Boozer to practice soon?

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Feb 17, 2007 | by Tim Buckley Deseret Morning News

LAS VEGAS -- Injured Jazz All-Star Carlos Boozer said Friday he will decide whether to return to practice Monday afternoon only after learning the result of a follow-up exam planned for earlier Monday.

"First I'm going to get an X-ray and see if the bone's back together, and if the bone's together then definitely I'll give practice a shot," said Boozer, who has been out since sustaining a hairline fracture to the fibula bone head leading into his left knee during a Jan. 27 game.

"What they (doctors) told me is once (the bone) heals (the fracture) won't come back -- but you have to let it heal first," added Boozer, who won't play in Sunday's NBA All-Star Game here because of the injury. "So I told them, 'OK, great, as soon as my bone is together I'll jump out there.' But if I jump out there before my bone's together, anything can happen."

Even if he's able to practice Monday, though, it remains to be seen if the Jazz's leading scorer and rebounder will be in good- enough shape to play in Utah's first game after the All-Star break, Tuesday at Portland.

"I'll determine that with how Monday goes," Boozer said. "I'm not ruling out anything."

BOOZER INVITE COMING: Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo said Friday that Boozer -- a 2004 United States Olympian -- will soon be asked to join the national-team program roster.

"We plan to have a conversation with him and extend an invitation," Colangelo said, confirming rumors that have swirled for some time.

Boozer has said previously that if asked he would, without reservation, join Team USA this summer as it prepares for the 2008 Summer Games. Boozer, however, still would have to survive a series of roster cuts to actually make his second Olympic team.

UNION MATTERS: With a new six-year Collective Bargaining Agreement having been reached in 2005, Jazz shooting guard Derek Fisher -- who formally takes over as president of the NBA Players Association this weeked -- hopes his union can take advantage of some relative downtime to make the next round of negotiations proceed without any major hangups.

"I think, overall, the NBA and the players are at a good place in terms of our game and our business," said Fisher, who is in Las Vegas to take part in a series of union-related meetings during the All-Star break.

"But," he added, "we have to continue to stay proactive in making sure that going forward our game is in a good position. And what I would like to see is, instead of everything getting pushed off until right before the possibility of a lockout year, that both sides get a lot of work done so the next time an opportunity comes for a new deal we all pretty much know what we need to do and how to do it."

Fisher concedes that's not exactly the American way, but, he said, "I would like for us to get as close as possible."

"Both sides," he added, "don't have really very many reasons to complain about things."

OKUR'S WORLD: Jazz All-Star Mehmet Okur's wife, Yeliz, who is eight months pregnant, received her doctor's permission to fly here to watch her husband play in Sunday's showcase.

Because Okur wasn't named as a replacement player until earlier this week, however, his parents didn't have enough time to arrange a quick trip from his native Turkey.

Back home, Okur said, fans have been "going crazy" over his selection as the first Turk to play in an NBA All-Star Game.

"They're all excited right now, and they can't wait," he said. "They want to see me out there Sunday."

How does he know?

"Because I've been on the phone last couple days," said Okur, who spent his first-ever night in Las Vegas eating Chinese food with Russian teammate Andrei Kirilenko. "I got calls from friends, family. They told me."

BANKING ON BARKLEY: Probably no one looking to keep their money would bet on ex-NBA star and current TNT commentator Charles Barkley in his televised footrace tonight -- three lengths of the court -- with longtime NBA referee Dick Bavetta.

Barkley, though, does have at least one backer among the league's All-Stars.

"I'll go with Chuck," Okur said.

E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com