AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — On his first road trip since the removal of a testicular tumor, the Nuggets’ Nene talked about how far he has come — and how much further he has to go.
Wearing Nuggets practice gear at Tuesday morning’s shootaround, after a minor cardio workout, Nene said it felt good just “to be involved again, to be around,” after the Jan. 14 surgery and the ensuing chemotherapy session.
Coach George Karl is optimistic the power forward can return to game action this season. Karl said Nene could return to practice in “a week or two,” though Nene was more cautiously optimistic.
“It’s hard to say if it will be two weeks,” said Nene, who currently weighs 260 pounds. “We’ll go day by day and see what I can do. I can’t say about the future. But today I did cardio. Don’t know what I’ll do tomorrow. Step by step.”
Nene made his first plane trip since the chemotherapy and said he felt nauseous. As for the overall effects of the chemotherapy, Nene said: “One week and a half and it will be out of my system. I’m tired. When I run, your stomach has a burning sensation.”
In the past couple weeks, Nene has done some light shooting with assistant coaches, in addition to weightlifting and running.
Welcome back.
Denver guard Chucky Atkins has numerous memories of the Palace of Auburn Hills, where he played from 2000-01 until the middle of 2003-04. A few months after he was traded, the Pistons won the NBA Finals.
Asked what his best memory was of Detroit, Atkins said: “When I first got here in Detroit, nobody came to the games. They were losing. We lost that first year (32-50), but things started to pick up the next year — got off to a 6-1 start — and now? As you see, 200-plus straight sellouts. We started that, and I was a part of that.”
True grit.
Guard Allen Iverson has a fractured finger, an injured right knee and a knot above his right eye, covered by a Band-Aid. Before tipoff, Karl was asked if the game wasn’t a must win, would Iverson possibly rest? Said the coach: “I think if we were playing an exhibition game, he’d probably play.” A.I. is the only Nugget to play in every game this season.
