Injuries can alter the course of a player’s career and sometimes take more away than just basketball from their lives. T. J. Ford, a former NBA player who built his game on speed, craft, and a charismatic feel, realized that after horribly hurting himself during a game against the Timberwolves in 2004.
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It was a brutal knock to his spine that momentarily left him paralyzed and pushed him into a fight far bigger than anything he had ever faced on the court. The recovery process was long, confusing, and filled with fear. It was also the story he opened up about in a recent conversation on the Out The Mud podcast.
Ford told host Tony Allen that the first step was listening to every medical opinion he could get from a handful of different doctors. “I go to listen to what they saying they’re gonna do. I got to listen to what I would be allowed to do and what I wouldn’t be allowed to do. That was the most stressful,” he said.
The ex-Pacers guard, however, refused to believe his career was finished. “I knew I was going to play again. I didn’t really care about that. I knew I was going to hoop. I was always willing to die for basketball and changing my family’s life.”
The harder part was the maze of medical decisions in front of Ford. “I probably had 6 different surgeries to choose from,” he said. “One doctor wanted to cut all my neck up. One doctor tells me not to have surgery. One doctor said, ‘Have a fusion.’ Another doctor said we going to cut these layers. And I’m sitting here trying to process because I need my reflexes.”
Ford had to weigh every option while dealing with the fear of losing the very tools that made him who he was. Still, that concern pales in comparison to the moments of paralysis he experienced, which occurred eight times because of how severely his spine had been crushed.
“What happens is, you can’t feel anything. All I can do is hear, move my mouth. I can’t feel nothing,” he recalled. “I can talk to you, and I can hear you. That’s it. Can’t do anything. Originally, when it happens, you can’t feel nothing.”
Ford added how players who were on the court during the injury, like Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett, had fear in their voices while they were trying to rally him up. He remembered their fear, but didn’t let it get to him.
“Your feeling comes back in your feet first. It’s tingling like crazy, still hurts. But it starts in your feet. That’s how I know stuff is coming back,” Ford mentioned. However, just because he got feeling back didn’t mean he was through the ringer. He claimed that his body was in pain from the slightest touch, even when just wearing a shirt that moved around too much.
Rehab became Ford’s lifeline. He said he worked with famed coach John Lucas because trust mattered more than anything. “That was family. That was the person that I trusted the most to help me get back. He rebuilt me up. He got me to trust falling again. The first day I fell, I thought it was over for me, and once I realized I was okay, he gave me the confidence to continue.”
Ford’s story lands as more than just an NBA comeback tale. It’s a reminder of how much grit it takes to keep moving when your body keeps telling you to stop. He didn’t just fight for his career; he fought for his identity, and he did it with a mix of honesty and toughness that makes his journey hit even harder now. Hearing him open up about it today shows just how much heart was behind every step he took back onto the court.
