Mavs’ Parsons still unsure about opening-night return
The regular-season opener is eight days away, but small forward Chandler Parsons still doesn’t know if he’ll be on the court Oct. 28 when the Dallas Mavericks travel to Phoenix to take on the Suns.
Parsons underwent a hybrid microfracture surgery May 1 to correct cartilage damage in his right knee. Since then, he has gone through the accompanying rehabilitation that has yet to include any contact work.
That contact work will basically be the final phase of Parsons’ recovery before he’s thrown into an actual game. But three weeks into training camp and 172 days after his surgery, Parsons still doesn’t know when that will occur.
“You get excited for camp and Fan Jam and two-a-days and things like that,” Parsons said, “but eventually you want to get out there and you want to play for real. That’s always a fun time on opening night. Hopefully, I’m out there playing.”
Once he’s cleared to play, Parsons won’t have any long-term concerns about his knee.
“It’s a small bump in the road,” the fifth-year veteran said. “I’ve never had surgery before. I’ve never done anything like this.
“When the doctors clear me, at that point, it’s all mental. I know I’ve rehabbed countless hours, countless days. Also, I’m as strong as I’ve ever been, and it’s going to be all between my ears by the time I come back.”
Parsons’ injury and subsequent rehab forced him into a soul-searching mode. He hasn’t been able to do things that are normally second nature for him — such as play basketball.
“It’s definitely something that I learned from and matured from,” Parsons said. “It slowed me down. It made me really realize the perspective.
“I miss basketball, I miss competing and I miss being exhausted. It’s definitely been very humbling and a good experience for me moving forward.”
As the Mavs move forward and host Phoenix at 7:30 Wednesday night in a preseason game at American Airlines Center, the team’s medical staff still hasn’t given Parsons a definitive timetable for his return. But they are encouraged by his progress.
“Every day, I’m starting to feel more and more back to how I used to,” Parsons said. “There hasn’t been much pain or swelling, but the hardest thing is just being patient and not getting too frustrated about not being out there.
“It kills me to not practice and miss these preseason games. But the biggest thing is to be smart, and that’s what I’m doing. [The medical staff] had a routine for me, and I’ve been doing that to the T, and the leg has been responding very well. So I’m happy with the progress I’ve made and I feel like I’m really, really close.”
Whenever he returns, Parsons cautions all to be as patient with him as he has been through his rehab process.
“Not playing in six months can take a toll on you,” he said. “It’s going to be a process coming back. I’m going to be rusty. The sooner I can get out there, the more I can practice and play, the better off I’ll be.”
Dwain Price: 817-390-7760, @dwainprice
Suns at Mavericks
7:30 p.m. Wednesday
TV: FSSW
Radio: ESPN/103.3 FM; ESPN/1540 AM (Sp.)
This story was originally published October 20, 2015 at 10:12 PM with the headline "Mavs’ Parsons still unsure about opening-night return."