McDonald: Horry could be active, yet not

[duncan228]

He's not hurt, that's good news.

http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/courtside/archives/2007/11/jeff_mcdonald_h_1.html

Jeff McDonald: Horry could be active, yet not

MINNEAPOLIS -- With Darius Washington now plying his trade in Austin, there is a good chance Robert Horry might find himself activated for the first time this season tonight against the Timberwolves. However, there still appears a to be a zero percent chance of him actually playing.

Horry is not injured. He is simply trying to get his groove back after missing the entire preseason to deal with a family matter. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich says it will be up to Horry as to when he would like to make his season debut.

As I was interviewing Horry after this morning's shootaround, in fact, Popovich wandered up to eavesdrop.

"I just want to hear what he has to say," Popovich said.

For the record, here is what Horry had to say to Pop and me about the prospect of his return: "I feel fine, physically. Mentally, I just want to get some (more) practices in, go up and down (the floor), get some full body contact. I'm just trying to get my mind right."

In many ways, Horry said, he feels like an NBA rookie who just joined a new team off the free-agent pile -- and not a 37-year-old veteran in his fifth season with the Spurs.

"I feel like I just got picked up," he said, "and I'm just now getting here."

The Spurs have a week at home after returning from the one-game road trip to Minnesota. Horry says he is tentatively eyeing that week as a date to make his debut.

[AFBlue]

Sounds like Pop is just as clueless in regards to Horry's status...but oddly it doesn't seem like he cares either.

Again, I think the time off may have had more benefit for the team with their ability to evaluate Washington before sending him down, and the ability to get Bonner some extended minutes.

But still...the Horry situation early this year has been a little odd.

[BeerIsGood!]

Does anyone know what Horry's personal matter was that kept him out of preseason?


The situation is a little odd, but Horry has become somewhat of the Roger Clemens of basketball, just without the huge year to year deals. I sort of figured he'd wait until mid-December to return, but it looks like he wants to get in a couple of weeks early.

[duncan228]

Does anyone know what Horry's personal matter was that kept him out of preseason?

He has a very ill daughter.
I'm not sure what it is, but I believe she's been ill her whole life.

Edit: Found it, see below.

[duncan228]

Found this, it's old but it tells the story.

http://www.roberthorry.net/articles-02.htm#061102

Family comes 1st for Lakers' Horry

Orlando Sentinel, 06/11/02
by: Brian Schmitz


Ashlyn Horry is 8, and she can hear her daddy, Robert, on a telephone pressed to her ear.

She can hear him tell her that he loves her and misses her. She can hear him talk about his Los Angeles Lakers and the game and how he'll be coming home soon.

As hard as it is to face, Robert Horry doesn't believe Ashlyn understands a word he's saying to her. "To be honest," he said Monday, "I don't think so." But he continues to fill her ears with his voice.

There's only one way Horry knows that Ashlyn hears him: His wife, Keva, gets on the line afterward and recounts their daughter's colorful facial expressions during her one-way conversation with daddy.

Ashlyn Horry cannot speak. She cannot walk. She cannot eat on her own and mostly is fed through a tube in her stomach.

There is no guarantee she will be able to ever function normally.

She was born without part of her first chromosome.

Horry knows the genetic defect has a name. But he can't relay it and frankly, he didn't think it was important to commit it to memory. But he and his wife have been told that Ashlyn has a neurological syndrome that mimics cerebral palsy. The Horrys' other child, Camron, 3, is perfectly healthy.

"It has to be hard, but Robert doesn't talk about it much," teammate Brian Shaw said. "The thing with his little girl obviously has given him a perspective that gets lost out here sometimes. He knows it's just a game. It's like he's living in two different worlds."

In one world, Horry, 31, is known as a winner, a clutch shooter who has had a knack for being at the right place at the right time. He won two NBA titles while with the Houston Rockets, and is now seeking a fifth overall ring with the Lakers after being traded to L.A.

"People say, 'He's just been a lucky guy to be on good teams,' " Horry said. "But all I know is that no matter what, my family will still love me."

In another world, far from the rings and parades and accolades, Horry wonders at times what happened to all that good fortune.

He has seen his daughter being fed through an IV tube. He has been at her side when she was in the hospital for six months after she was born and through countless other medical scares, including a tracheotomy that allowed her to breathe for three years. Then there are the Fourth of July family picnics, which are always difficult. He feels bad that Ashlyn sees her brother and cousins running and playing but can't join the fun.

Horry, who is from Andalusia, Ala. and played at Alabama, recalls his former coach, Wimp Sanderson, taking the Tide to visit disabled children.

"That puts everything in perspective because he used to say all the time, 'Enjoy what you have because there's a lot of kids out there who can't walk, who can't run, who can't see and do the things that you can do.'

"I used to think that nothing could slow me down," he said, "but when Wimp used to take us to see these kids, it made you realize that what you have is very special and you'd better enjoy it while you have it.

"Then when my daughter's situation came up, it just really sent it home even more."

And home is Houston, where Horry wishes he could be most of the time. His family lives there in a house they bought when Horry played for the Rockets. He lives in L.A. during the season, although they frequently visit him.

It is a hardship, but it's for the best. It's for Ashlyn.

She has been part of a physical therapy and emotional rehabilitation program at the Pediatric Therapy Center in southwest Houston since she was 2, and the Horrys did not want to risk taking her away from an environment she so enjoys. She is making tiny strides and has bonded with therapist Judy Boshart, who bounces a ball back and forth with her and often feeds her baby food from a Dixie cup.

Like last year, Horry has an option in his contract. He will think again about leaving the world champions after the season and, if possible, sign on for a second tour with the Rockets. He wants to be closer to Ashlyn and his family.

"I think about it constantly," he said.

Besides, he'll have a ring for every finger after the Lakers oust the Nets, and there are more important things than rings. Like the little girl on the other end of a telephone.

"The only thing she understands is that when her Dad is in the room, she has a lot of joy because she doesn't get to see her Dad that much. She just wants to sit in my lap or hold me," Robert Horry said.

"That's the best thing for me . . . and for her."

[ancestron]

Horrys just waiting for teh playoffzzz

[1Parker1]

"I feel like I just got picked up," he said, "and I'm just now getting here."

I sure hope he doesn't play like it!

And that's very sad about his daughter, I never knew the exact situation with her. Props to Horry for getting his priorities straight and understanding what's important in life. Many successful athletes often lose sight of this....

[nkdlunch]

horry will be ready when's he's ready

[Bruno]

So Spurs have send Washington while Horry wasn't ready and they will have 11 healthy players.
I don't know exactly what it means but it's noteworthy.