Stephon Marbury’s recovery from offseason ankle surgery is moving along speedily.
“I’m progressing a lot faster than probably what the doctor thought,” said the Suns’ guard, who had bone spurs removed from both ankles on May 29. “If you look at the before and after (X-Ray), it’s like night and day. Everything is cleaned up. It’s a totally different picture.”
The 26-year-old All-Star, who is receiving daily treatment in Phoenix, began experiencing “pressure” in both ankles during last year’s training camp, but opted to wait until after the season to have surgery. The seven-year veteran has played in 161 of the Suns’ 162 regular season games (167 out of 168 games, including the playoffs) since his trade from New Jersey to Phoenix in July 2001. Starbury missed the season opener at Seattle in 2002-03 because of an NBA suspension.
“It was a steady pain, but it wasn’t anything that I couldn’t play with,” admitted the Third Team All-NBA selection, who was the only player in the NBA to rank in the top 12 in points (22.3, 12th) and assists (8.1, 4th). “It was just pain. It wasn’t like there were days I couldn’t walk or anything like that.
“It was frustrating more than anything because you do so much to try to not get that pain, but like I’ve said, what can’t kill will only make you stronger. Hopefully, this year I can be pain free.”
Marbury said he is currently trying to reduce the swelling and improve his range of motion in both ankles less than three weeks after surgery, and should resume strengthening exercises in two weeks.
“I’m shooting for a late July, early August return,” said Marbury, who will attend the Suns’ informal workouts that begin in September. “That’s when I want to be able to run the court and shoot, but I’ll be training and working out in between, too. And when I say running the court, I mean full speed.”
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