Mashburn returns to Hornets

By By Richard Dark / EMG staff writer
Jan. 27, 2004
WESTWEGO, La. Make no mistake about it, Monday was no run of the mill regular season practice session for the New Orleans Hornets.
After missing all of training camp, preseason and the initial 44 games of the season, Coach Tim Floyd and the New Orleans Hornets were reunited with their All-Star forward Jamal Mashburn, who stayed at home in Miami for the entire duration of his rehabilitation from the November 1st arthroscopic knee surgery.
The larger than usual media contingent on hand at the team's practice facility was armed with the burning question of how Mashburn would be received by his new coach, teammates and the majority of the squad that has been through the wars with him over the past few seasons.
Sources close to the team confirmed that some of the Hornets were unhappy that Mashburn opted to stay in south Florida for the entire 11 ∏ weeks since his surgery.
But Mashburn, who averaged 24.8 points per game in 82 outings last year, said he wouldn't have done anything differently.
Floyd spoke generally, refusing to give a quick evaluation of his "new" forward.
But Mashburn said the whole process was akin to riding a bicycle.
Both Floyd and Mashburn refused to speculate on just when he would return to game action. "I'm not prepared to give you that answer right now," Floyd said. "We did a lot of teaching today, we'll do more up and down (the floor) later."
Mashburn did say he would sit down with Floyd and Executive VP of Basketball Operations Bob Bass to hammer out the exact game he'll return.
The Hornets (25-19), coming off back-to-back wins over Western Conference powers Denver and San Antonio, host Milwaukee Wednesday night, a game Mashburn could see a limited amount of minutes in.
Darrell Armstrong, one of the heroes in Saturday's win over the Spurs said the fact that Mashburn was away should not be an issue.
But the spark plug guard that scored his age (35) in the last outing hinted that some negativity might still linger.
For his part, Floyd brushed it aside as well.
One problem is getting back Davis who has referred to the Mashburn return as "a new season" and P.J. Brown, along with David Wesley. Wesley was not at the team facility Monday and Davis and Brown sat on the bench and watched the workout because of ankle injuries. Brown rolled his right ankle with three minutes left against the Spurs.