duncan228
07-13-2009, 11:53 PM
Spurs' big question: What about Mahinmi? (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_big_question_What_about_Mahinmi.html)
Jeff McDonald
LAS VEGAS — Spurs center Ian Mahinmi walked onto the floor at Cox Pavilion on Sunday afternoon and took in the scene.
A couple hundred people had half-filled the auxiliary gym on the UNLV campus for a matinee NBA summer league game, most of them there only in search of a cheap way to escape the sweltering desert sun.
There were no cheerleaders or replay screens. The door to the makeshift “locker room” was just a hospital curtain strung up in the corner of the gym. The event was so low-key, even the coaches were wearing shorts.
To the uninitiated, the Spurs' summer league opener against New Orleans was little more than an organized pickup game. To Mahinmi, it was the most beautiful sight on Earth.
“I've been waiting for this for a long time,” Mahinmi said. “With all the trouble I had this year, it was a moment I've really been thinking about. I finally get to play.”
After what he'd been through over the past 11 months, Mahinmi would have been jazzed to participate in a pickup game in Timbuktu.
Last season was supposed to be an important one for Mahinmi, the Spurs' first-round draft choice in 2005. The Spurs planned to give him ample opportunity to prove, at last, that he could be a viable NBA big man.
Instead, Mahinmi spent almost the entire season — all but 21 minutes of one Development League game with the Austin Toros — sidelined with a nagging ankle injury that eventually required surgery.
It was a lost year, both for Mahinmi and for the Spurs, who still don't know what they have in the 6-foot-11 Frenchman.
“We wanted to see how he'd respond and what we had,” coach Gregg Popovich lamented. “And we still don't know.”
As such, perhaps no player at this year's Las Vegas summer league has as much to gain — or lose — as Mahinmi. At 22 years old, his career has hit a crossroads.
A former Development League All-Star, Mahinmi is under contract with the Spurs for the upcoming season. His future beyond that is very much in doubt.
The Spurs have until Oct. 31 to decide whether to pick up Mahinmi's fourth-year option or let him become a free agent next summer. His performance in Vegas will weigh heavily on the direction the team decides to take.
Out of D-League eligibility, Mahinmi will have to spend the season in the NBA. It isn't yet clear that he belongs there.
“We want him to show us he can be one of the bigs in this organization,” said Spurs assistant Don Newman, who helms the summer league squad. “The only way he's going to do that is to get out on the floor and prove himself.”
That was the plan for Mahinmi last season. His body just wouldn't allow it.
Mahinmi's injury nightmare began in August, when he stepped on another player's foot during a pickup game.
Initially diagnosed as a high right ankle sprain, the injury didn't improve with rest and treatment. In November, Mahinmi tested the ankle in a Development League game with the Austin Toros and re-aggravated the injury.
Mahinmi didn't know it yet, but his season was finished. He had wasted a year of his life. He had let the organization down.
“I knew they wanted me to play, to show what I can do,” Mahinmi said. “I wanted that so bad, too.”
In January, doctors finally pinpointed the cause of Mahinmi's recurring pain. A small piece of bone had broken off and was floating around inside his ankle. It hadn't appeared on any of his previous MRIs.
Mahinmi would need season-ending surgery to correct the problem. By that point, he was the cheeriest surgery patient imaginable.
“I wish I had surgery from the beginning,” Mahinmi said. “It's usually the last resort, but it made me feel better.”
Now that Mahinmi is healthy again, the real work begins. He hopes to soon reward the Spurs' faith and patience in him.
Mahinmi's first summer league outing didn't go so well. He scored eight points on 1-of-3 shooting, committed seven fouls (there are no disqualifications in summer league) and was generally outplayed by New Orleans' Earl Barron.
Yet Mahinmi couldn't have been happier. For now, just being on the floor was enough.
He has the rest of the summer to worry about the rest of his career.
“I'm still young, still just 22 years old,” Mahinmi said. “There's a long career in front of me, hopefully with the Spurs. All I can do is go out there and work hard, and showcase what I can do.”
Jeff McDonald
LAS VEGAS — Spurs center Ian Mahinmi walked onto the floor at Cox Pavilion on Sunday afternoon and took in the scene.
A couple hundred people had half-filled the auxiliary gym on the UNLV campus for a matinee NBA summer league game, most of them there only in search of a cheap way to escape the sweltering desert sun.
There were no cheerleaders or replay screens. The door to the makeshift “locker room” was just a hospital curtain strung up in the corner of the gym. The event was so low-key, even the coaches were wearing shorts.
To the uninitiated, the Spurs' summer league opener against New Orleans was little more than an organized pickup game. To Mahinmi, it was the most beautiful sight on Earth.
“I've been waiting for this for a long time,” Mahinmi said. “With all the trouble I had this year, it was a moment I've really been thinking about. I finally get to play.”
After what he'd been through over the past 11 months, Mahinmi would have been jazzed to participate in a pickup game in Timbuktu.
Last season was supposed to be an important one for Mahinmi, the Spurs' first-round draft choice in 2005. The Spurs planned to give him ample opportunity to prove, at last, that he could be a viable NBA big man.
Instead, Mahinmi spent almost the entire season — all but 21 minutes of one Development League game with the Austin Toros — sidelined with a nagging ankle injury that eventually required surgery.
It was a lost year, both for Mahinmi and for the Spurs, who still don't know what they have in the 6-foot-11 Frenchman.
“We wanted to see how he'd respond and what we had,” coach Gregg Popovich lamented. “And we still don't know.”
As such, perhaps no player at this year's Las Vegas summer league has as much to gain — or lose — as Mahinmi. At 22 years old, his career has hit a crossroads.
A former Development League All-Star, Mahinmi is under contract with the Spurs for the upcoming season. His future beyond that is very much in doubt.
The Spurs have until Oct. 31 to decide whether to pick up Mahinmi's fourth-year option or let him become a free agent next summer. His performance in Vegas will weigh heavily on the direction the team decides to take.
Out of D-League eligibility, Mahinmi will have to spend the season in the NBA. It isn't yet clear that he belongs there.
“We want him to show us he can be one of the bigs in this organization,” said Spurs assistant Don Newman, who helms the summer league squad. “The only way he's going to do that is to get out on the floor and prove himself.”
That was the plan for Mahinmi last season. His body just wouldn't allow it.
Mahinmi's injury nightmare began in August, when he stepped on another player's foot during a pickup game.
Initially diagnosed as a high right ankle sprain, the injury didn't improve with rest and treatment. In November, Mahinmi tested the ankle in a Development League game with the Austin Toros and re-aggravated the injury.
Mahinmi didn't know it yet, but his season was finished. He had wasted a year of his life. He had let the organization down.
“I knew they wanted me to play, to show what I can do,” Mahinmi said. “I wanted that so bad, too.”
In January, doctors finally pinpointed the cause of Mahinmi's recurring pain. A small piece of bone had broken off and was floating around inside his ankle. It hadn't appeared on any of his previous MRIs.
Mahinmi would need season-ending surgery to correct the problem. By that point, he was the cheeriest surgery patient imaginable.
“I wish I had surgery from the beginning,” Mahinmi said. “It's usually the last resort, but it made me feel better.”
Now that Mahinmi is healthy again, the real work begins. He hopes to soon reward the Spurs' faith and patience in him.
Mahinmi's first summer league outing didn't go so well. He scored eight points on 1-of-3 shooting, committed seven fouls (there are no disqualifications in summer league) and was generally outplayed by New Orleans' Earl Barron.
Yet Mahinmi couldn't have been happier. For now, just being on the floor was enough.
He has the rest of the summer to worry about the rest of his career.
“I'm still young, still just 22 years old,” Mahinmi said. “There's a long career in front of me, hopefully with the Spurs. All I can do is go out there and work hard, and showcase what I can do.”