This was right after I hurt my finger on December 11, 2009. Gary?was assessing, trying to gauge how bad it was. Pretty much right?away, we went back into the bowels of the arena, had it X-rayed,?and Gary told me it was fractured. I said, “Alright, cool, now get me?back out there.”

Gary looked at me like I was crazy.

I asked him, “Is it going to get better?” He said no. I said, “Exactly,?there’s nothing we can do about it now and it can’t get worse, so?tape it up and let’s go.”

From that point forward, we would apply a splint, which was like a?hard cast at the bottom and top portion of my?finger. Then we?would wrap it over and over again with a spongy elastic tape. The?ball would, physically, still hurt when it hit my finger. But mentally,?I knew I had protection absorbing some of the pain and I could play?through the rest.

We did that, literally, every time out on the court. Shootaround,?practice, game. I mean, every time out.