Hornets' Okafor appears ready, eager to toe the line

Taking the time to clarify what he thought was a somewhat misleading report last week on his extended absence, Hornets center Emeka Okafor on Sunday said he is not ruling out the chance he could play in the team's regular-season opener Wednesday night at San Antonio.

Okafor participated in all of the team's rigorous practice Sunday at the Alario Center except for the five-on-five, full-contact scrimmages, and the center said the sprained second toe on his right foot responded favorably.

A story on Yahoo.com on Friday indicated that Okafor had received medical clearance to fully resume activities two weeks ago but seemed reluctant to participate in all phases of team workouts.

"There were a couple of things in the article that weren't conveyed right as far as the doctors saying it was OK for me to (practice)," Okafor said. "The article almost made it seem like I wasn't playing for the sake of not playing. What was left out was that the doctors said it was OK for me to gradually do weight-bearing activities until I felt comfortable to play. The previous week I jumped out there and started running and felt the soreness and got set back.

"This time the game plan was to gradually build. That's what we've been doing and had success doing. Today was the first time I was on the court running, doing everything, the non-contact things, to try to gradually ease myself into the water."

Okafor said when he practiced for the first time Oct. 12 after missing the first three weeks of training camp -- planning to make his preseason debut Oct. 17 against Indiana -- he experienced soreness during and after the workout, which slowed his progress.

After Sunday's practice, Okafor said the toe felt fine.

"It's cool. It's in a better place," Okafor said. "It's definitely more manageable than it was. And that was the goal: to get to a place where it could be manageable and I could get to place where I could play. I think people have to realize I've played two straight seasons (without missing a game) and in all those games, I haven't felt 100 percent.

"There are days I've played with pain. If I have to play with pain, I can. But understand this is the preseason. Why take extraordinary measures when it's not necessary at this point? If it comes time when you've just got to go, cool. But if the time doesn't dictate that . . ."

Hornets Coach Byron Scott said Sunday Okafor's teammates -- reported in the Yahoo story as becoming somewhat disgruntled by Okafor's absence -- seemed pleased to have Okafor on the court.

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