Claxton taking risk by playing in summer league

[Vesper]

Sekou Smith AJC 07/17/08 Claxton taking risk by playing in summer league

Injury prone point guard at crossroads of career

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 07/17/08

As far as calculated risks go, Speedy Claxton is taking a major one.

The Hawks' oft-injured point guard is currently taking part in the Hawks' free-agent minicamp. He will also play summer league, which starts Friday in Salt Lake City.

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It's not every day a veteran player with a guaranteed contract risks his reputation against players thirsty for the status and security he has. Claxton will make $5.76 million this season and $5.2 million in 2009-10, the final year of the four-year, $25 million deal he signed with the Hawks two summers ago.

Claxton, however, is at a crossroads in his career — one shipwrecked the past two seasons by injuries and inactivity.

He hasn't played a game in more than a year, having missed the entire 2007-08 season with a knee injury. His knee, along with a broken wrist, limited him to just 42 games during his first season with the Hawks.

He requested the opportunity to join the youngsters and free-agent hopefuls who were on the Hawks' practice floor Wednesday. He needs to know if he can still do this, and do it the way he's been able.

"I'm not worried about what anybody else thinks and who might be out there gunning for me," said Claxton, a seven-year veteran who already has an NBA title on his résumé. "I'm doing this for me, trying to check and see how my knee feels and how I can play and how I can do on consecutive days. I haven't been out here in a long time.

"I talked to [Hawks coach Mike Woodson] at the end of the season and let him know that I wanted to try this and see how my knee felt, and then when [new general manager] Rick [sund] got the job, I talked to him about it and agreed that it would be a great thing for both sides to see where we are and evaluate things from here going forward."

Where things go from here depend solely on the strength of Claxton's left knee, which has been operated on twice since he joined the Hawks.

He had a cartilage tear repaired last summer and looked to be rounding into shape early in training camp, but he experienced problems with the everyday pounding and his season ended before it started.

After declaring his season over just before Christmas, Claxton saw specialists in Vancouver and Colorado, the latter suggesting that he needed microfracture surgery if he wanted to continue his NBA career.

But the microfracture procedure never happened. Claxton had arthroscopic surgery and went back to rehab for the remainder of the season with an eye trained on early July as a testing ground for his latest comeback attempt.

Now that he's here, he insists he feels as good as could be expected. He's eager to test himself over the next 10 days.

"I'm pretty confident I can get back to the way I was," Claxton said. "The knee is still not 100 percent, but it's definitely a whole lot better than it was in the past. I'm not taking anything for granted, and I'm going to listen to my body and see how I feel day after day. But I'm confident and very much ready to go. I'm not making any predictions, but I'm anxious to see how it goes."

Woodson would love to share that optimism, but he's been burned before. The Hawks counted on Claxton coming back last year, only to watch that attempt fizzle, a development that ultimately resulted in the trade for Mike Bibby in February.

"Listen, the plan is to physically and mentally get him back, because he hasn't played in over a year," Woodson said. "We'll use this camp and next week to see if we can push him to the max, and really that's all we can do.

"We're still behind him 100 percent. We're going to do everything we can to help him. But only two things can happen from here, either he responds to this and can play or he can't play anymore. Those are the only two things that can happen for Speedy right now."

Bibby is entrenched as the starter, and Acie Law IV is the backup. Claxton not only has to prove he's capable of playing again, he'll have to claw his way back into the mix for playing time.

Law is convinced he can do it.

"I'm watching him move around out here and seeing the way he's rehabbed and come back from all that's gone on, and I wouldn't dare bet against him," Law said. "He doesn't look like a dude ready to walk away from this to me."

[Johann]

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"I'm watching him move around out here and seeing the way he's rehabbed and come back from all that's gone on, and I wouldn't dare bet against him," Law said. "He doesn't look like a dude ready to walk away from this to me."

Speedy has got heart, contrary to all the opinions of those that have piled on him these last two years.

The young man has earned my respect. You can criticize his knee legitimately, but not what's in his chest. I hope he can make it back and help us this year.

But if he can't, now is the time to find out. I forget what the rule is technically, but if he finds out his knee can't take it and he decides to retire without playing another regular season game, I think that would be very advantageous to the Hawks from a cap standpoint.

Either way, the man has earned respect.

[mrhonline]

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Either way, the man has earned respect.

That's absolutely true. His inability to either play or retire is frustrating, but at least he cares.

It sounds like he's leaning toward retirement if the knee flares up again. That would basically give the Hawks the MLE back. It would be huge.

[DrReality]

That's a man with integrity. He's doing the right thing and I hope him the best.

[LOL_Hawks]

I like it too. Most seasoned vets like Speedy would probably never lower themselves to playing in the summer league. But I guess he knows where he's at in his career, and what he's got to do to get back. So yeah, it's definitely an admirable thing, him going to summer league to play. We can use the help he can provide if healthy.

[DrReality]

Most importantly he has to prove it to himself. Such a critical juncture in his life. Scary thing???

[Wurider05]

Actually him playing in summer league is better for us. If he gets hurt then we go into the season knowing that we won't have him available.

[Zone034life]

Craig doesn't have my respect(as a ball player) because he has not earned it. I didn't like his game before his injury. I didn't think his defense was as good as some here say it is and his outside shot was terrible. He didn't have consistent three point range and he was very small.

All that said it is good that he will make or break his career this summer. If he gets hurt again and continues to say he will play this will hurt the Hawks. If he retires then he will help this team.

Craig Claxton and Mike Hampton should be best friends since they have so much free time to spare while still getting paid.

[Cwell]

most seasoned vets aren't as injury prone as he is. Amare Stoudamire and Ron Artest played a couple years ago.