T.J. Ford slipped in when nobody was looking, in a turtleneck and a jacket, arms at his sides. But once the Toronto Raptors ‘ point guard was shown on the big screen 2:50 into the second quarter against Dallas — less than 24 hours after suffering a scary neck injury — it was his smile, and his wave, that attracted a partial standing ovation, and smiles from his teammates.
“I just wanted to show those guys that I was O.K.,” said Ford, “because the last memory they have is me being carried out on a stretcher.”
Ford had spent the previous night in an Atlanta hospital with Raptors’ assistant trainer Rory Mullen and team security chief Willis Richardson, then flew home on a chartered plane Wednesday after X-rays, a CT scan and an MRI taken in Atlanta were all negative. The plane stopped in Baltimore to pick up Raptors’ forward Jorge Garbajosa, who underwent surgery on his left leg and who is out indefinitely, before returning to Toronto.
On Wednesday, Ford felt much improved, despite barely being able to sleep. While in hospital, Ford was visited by Hawks’ rookie Al Horford, whose ill-advised foul caused Ford’s injury. Horford was afraid to go at first but eventually spent two hours with Ford, who made the rookie laugh and feel better.
“He’s a good kid,” said Ford.
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