Sonics' Swift Sheds His Skin

In one swoop, Robert Swift's development as a man and a basketball player has reached its apex, at the precise moment when the Sonics are seeking a mature and productive center as a cornerstone of their future.

Quietly, as the Sonics franchise moves toward slow-simmering success on the court and uncertainty off it, Swift has rehabilitated his torn right anterior cruciate ligament in near anonymity. Not yet considered a bust because he was robbed of his opportunity to showcase his skills by the catastrophic injury, Swift has not played in an NBA regular-season game in 16 months, and he's hoping to make it to Oct. 31 at Denver's Pepsi Center with his rebuilt knee intact.

While many of his teammates were lying on tropical islands with umbrella drinks, Swift was begging the Sonics' strength and conditioning coach, Dwight Daub, to stay at the Furtado Center for more work. He arrived here Thursday at 11:30 a.m. as the Storm was practicing and worked arduously in the weight room while construction workers were milling around.Swift ignored them, flipped on an AC/DC compact disc and went to work.

"It's been exactly the opposite," Swift said when asked whether he's had to be coerced to rehab. "There are times when things are tough at home or I just want to be here, and I have to beg Dwight to stay here and he would say that I was done and to go home. I sometimes have been working too much."

click here for more details

source : seattlepi.nwsource.com