CHARLOTTE -- Charlotte Bobcats point guard D.J. Augustin played through three ankle sprains the first dozen games of this NBA season. He knows the difference between a little pain and a debilitating injury.
The right big-toe injury Augustin has suffered is debilitating. So much so that he likely won't play in any of the upcoming four road games that start Tuesday against the Lakers in Los Angeles. In an exclusive interview Sunday with the Observer, Augustin said sitting out now is necessary, not only to this season, but potentially to protecting his career.
"If I try to come back and play on it too soon, I'll be right back where I was last week," said Augustin, who missed the past four games, all losses.
"I don't want to play on it, make it worse, and maybe be out the rest of the year - hurt my career with something serious."
The basic description of Augustin's injury is "right big-toe inflammation." More specifically, doctors tell him he has tiny cracks in the sesamoid bones embedded into the tendons in that toe. He planned to have a magnetic resonance imaging Sunday to double-check the health of the tendons in his toe.
"It could have been something I was born with," Augustin said. "Inflammation gets in the cracks and that's what's causing the pain."
Augustin said this injury is particularly problematic for a point guard, because so much of his game is predicated on explosive movements off his right foot, his dominant foot. There's nothing he does at the NBA level that wouldn't place stress on this exact injury.
"When I push off to do anything - to drive, to play defense - I'm not getting any of the lift or explosiveness I need to do it," he said.
Augustin has spent the past week getting treatment - ice, electric stimulation, an oral anti-inflammatory and some light exercises to strengthen the tendon. But mostly the treatment is rest and time. He's still in a walking boot to keep weight and pressure off the injury.
He's in less pain, but that can be misleading:
"I'm feeling better, but I wouldn't feel that exact pain again until I try to play on it, try running," Augustin said. "First, I'm going to practice. If I can't make it through a practice, I'm definitely not going to play."
