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SALT LAKE CITY – Joe Harris can’t guarantee he’ll be able to avoid a second ankle surgery or even be back playing with the Nets this season.
But he’s still hopeful, and if he can be a little more patient in this rehab he still thinks he’ll be out on the court for the Nets before the season ends.
“That’s hard to say,” Harris said. “In my mind, I’m confident that I’ll be able to get back. I’ve been optimistic through this whole thing; I haven’t really lost faith in the fact that I’m going to be able to come back and play, and that’s the same spot that I’m in right now. I’m not going to just completely give in on what’s going on.
“My focus is specific to the treatment, the faith in our performance staff and knowing there’s still a chance for me to get back. I just have to stay consistent with what I’m doing, probably to be a little bit more patient, have a little more time…It’s hard to determine, so all the energy and focus has got to be put into trying to do the right stuff right now. Then, whatever happens happens later on.”
Harris hasn’t played since Nov. 14 against the Thunder. He had ankle surgery on Nov. 29, with the expectation that he’d be back in 4 to 8 weeks, but suffered a setback.
Thursday, Harris’ agent Mark Bartelstein told the Post that the next week or two will determine if another procedure will be required. But when asked what sort of surgery might be needed or a timeline for a return, Harris demurred.
“I don’t know the specific details. Pretty much all my focus right now is not necessarily worrying a lot about hypothetical stuff and some of the procedures that may happen,” said Harris. “It’s like, ‘Hey, I’m focusing on the rehab, and just trying to get right so I can come back and play’ and not worry about all that stuff. If I have to cross that bridge I’ll worry about it when I come up to it.
“My focus is just continuing with the rehab and treatment and the program that we have in place. And we have amazing performance staff here, I’ve seen some great docs and the focus is just on the treatment aspect, the rehab aspect and not really that concerned with sort of like hypothetical procedures or anything like that.”
Harris appeared to be making progress but had a setback during his rehab. He acknowledged how much being off the court has frustrated him, and that he probably needed more patience throughout the recovery process.
“Yeah, it’s one of these things where I was pretty eager to try and get back,” Harris said. “You get put certain timelines initially so you’re obviously shooting to try and hit those when the reality of the matter is probably that I needed a little bit more time and a more gradual incline to what we were doing.
“But it wasn’t like any one thing where I just had to shut it down completely. It was more like in the progression of things I was just stuck at one tier doing this stuff vs. progressing up to the next one. So it wasn’t like I skipped a whole bunch of stuff and was going right to the court. It was all along the timeline of what my program was; I just had to stay on some stuff a little longer before I could progress.”
The Nets have missed Harris, their effective field goal percentage of .563 with him on the floor dipping to .530 with him off. But Steve Nash cautioned patience for his floor-spacing wing.
“It’s very stressful I’m sure for him to continue to test his mental toughness, try to find solutions and get over this thing,” the Nets coach said. “We just tell him we’re here for him. Try to limit your stress, keep working and keep going through it and what will be will be. But don’t add to it by (dwelling) on it. Easier said than done when you’re not the one going through it. But we all feel for him.”
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