Right after I sustained the injury in 2013, as I was walking off?the?court, I just looked at my wife and shook my head. She could?immediately tell it was very serious.

I went straight to the training table in the locker room. Gary Vitti?was there, so was Patrick Soon-Shiong, a surgeon and minority?owner of the team (and who today owns the Los Angeles Times). We?started speaking and Patrick said, “There’s a new procedure and it?looks very promising, but it operates on the premise that you can’t?let scar tissue settle in. It means you would need to go and have the?operation tomorrow.”

I said, “Let’s do it.” It was as simple as that. We started game?planning for surgery the next morning right there and then. Shortly?thereafter, my family came in and I talked with them. We cried?about it, and I answered all my kids’ questions. I assured them that?Daddy was going to be fine. I remember, sometime after that,?showering with crutches and being careful not to slip. I talked to the?media, and I had surgery the very next day.

Before the Achilles injury, I was thinking about my career arc. I?could feel my body wearing out and I knew I was on the clock.?When the Achilles injury happened, I treated it as a new challenge.?People were saying I might not be able to come back, but I knew I?was not going to let it beat me. I was not going to let an injury?dictate my retirement; I was going to dictate my retirement. That’s?when I decided I had to climb that mountain.