SAN FRANCISCO– Inihayag ni Philadelphia 76ers guard Jason Richardson sa Yahoo Sports na inaasahan na niya ang pagbabalik sa korte sa huling bahagi ng buwan na ito makaraang papagpahingahin sa loob ng dalawang taon.
Huling sumabak si Richardson noong Enero 18, 2013, bilang miyembro ng as Sixers bago nagkaroon ito ng mga problema sa kanyang tuhod at bukong-bukong. Sumailalim ito sa operasyon sa tuhod noong nakaraang Pebrero. Sinabi ni Richardson na siya’y napasama sa loob ng dalawa o tatlong linggong pagsasanay at sa kasalukuyan tumatakbo siya sa treadmill at isinasagawa ang magaan na pagtakbo sa korte, kasama na ang shooting drills.
“It will mean a lot to come back,” pahayag ni Richardson matapos ang kanyang pag-eensayo sa Sixers kahapon. “I thought I was done playing. I really did. But seeing my son play AAU over the summertime, seeing his love for the game, it made me get the love back for the game.”
“My thing is to always walk away on my own terms. I understand that things happen. Me having this knee injury, fading away like that is not the way I wanted to go out. Retirement is three or four years away from now.”
DOH, nakapagtala ng 17 firework-related injuries sa loob lamang ng 24 oras
Si Richardson ay may average na 17.5 puntos, 5.0 rebounds at 2.7 assists sa loob ng 12 NBA seasons. Nasa huling taon na ng kanyang kontrata si Richardson na kinapalooban ng team-high $6.6 million para sa batang Sixers, pagmamay-ari ang NBA-worst four wins.
Naniniwala si Richardson na siya’y magiging positibong impluwensiya sa kanyang teammates.
“I just want to teach them the little tricks I know,” pahayag ni Richardson. “When I see something wrong, I can be a player-coach to these guys. Sometimes they might get tired of the coach and the assistants coaches. I am one of their peers, even though I am 10 [to] 12 years older than most of them.”
“I am still one of their teammates and still respect the things that they have to say. I will tell them things that I wanted to hear when I was a young guy.”
