Perkins vows injury won’t slow him (Basketball)
The same knee injury that cost Doron Perkins of Anchorage a shot at a Euroleague title has now deprived him of a contract going into this season
But he isn’t sweating it.
A veteran of professional basketball, the 28-year-old knows how the business end of the game operates and so he understands why his team of the last two years – Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv – didn’t renew his contract, thus making him a free agent.
“Maccabi didn’t have to do anything for me,” Perkins told the Israeli website haaretz.com. “I can understand that.”
Perkins, of Bartlett High fame, injured his knee five months ago during the Euroleague playoffs when he fell hard in the early goings of a quarterfinal game and never returned. He tore two ligaments and required surgery.
 Anchorage’s Doron Perkins is one of the best point guards in the Euroleague. |
He has since been recouping and rehabbing in Las Vegas with an eye toward returning to the court in the next few months.
“Slowly but surely I’m improving from day to day,” he said. “I can do almost everything apart from play basketball. It’s been a long process and I have had to be very patient. Sometime I feel great and then suddenly I could hardly move.”
After two standout seasons with Maccabi it was surprising the team didn’t show more loyalty to a player that sparked the team to a No. 2 ranking in Europe as well as a berth in the Euroleague elite eight.
The 6-foot-2 point guard out of Santa Clara University has triple-double abilities as a scorer, rebounder and facilitator.
Don’t forget that Perkins dropped a triple-double on the Clippers during an exhibition game two years ago [side note: After the game the Israeli players discovered they had been robbed when their locker room was ransacked during the second half.]
In 19 Euroleague games last year he averaged 10 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists with season highs of 20 points, 9 boards and 9 dimes. He’s an all-star in the prime of his career.
Oddly, his phone isn’t ringing off the hook.
“I believe in making the best of every situation,” Perkins said. “Because of all the work I put in over the summer I know I will return a better player.”