Finally, some good news for the Bulls.
Scottie Pippen can start rehabilitation in the second stage of recovery from foot surgery. Two weeks ago, Pippen had a bone spur removed to correct a soft-tissue injury to his left foot. He will be out of action at least until January.
Pippen will embark on light weight training and start using a stationary bike.
“He’s going to begin doing that work this week,” Bulls trainer Chip Schaefer said Tuesday. “The first week or two (after surgery) is mostly having it immobilized to allow time for adequate tissue healing. After that he starts doing passive range-of-motion (exercises) and active resistant range-of-motion (exercises) to make sure he gets all of the motion back in his foot. From that, it’s just a question of continued tissue healing and then he can begin his conditioning work.”
Schaefer said there is no need to rush Pippen’s return to the team any time before January.
“Sometimes things take a little longer than you originally think and sometimes you get lucky and guys do extremely better than you would think,” Schaefer said. “But the first part of January remains a realistic goal in terms of running and practicing. Then it comes down to him getting into game shape. By that time, he would not have played basketball for almost a half a year. That’s a pretty long time.”
Hamilton gone: The team released 7-foot-2-inch, 350-pound Thomas Hamilton, the former King High School star. Hamilton, 22, was invited to camp in an effort to work himself into some kind of playing shape and possibly a look from another NBA team. Hamilton saw limited action with the Bulls.
“The obvious thing is Thomas has to be a conditioned athlete,” Bulls coach Phil Jackson said. “Right now, he’s a big kid with a lot of talent.”
The other guys: Jackson has been impressed with the non-roster players’ performance during training camp, particularly Boris Gorenc, who was holding his own against Michael Jordan before Jordan was sidelined following surgergy for ingrown toenails.
But Gorenc, Rusty LaRue, Eric Gingold, Dante Calabria and Kornel David won’t make the team because there are no roster spots available. They will, however, get a lot of playing time in the Bulls’ final three exhibition games.
“They came into camp without any guarantees,” Jackson said. “All I can tell them is just go out and play every day and work real hard. We’re very fortunate to have a bunch of young men who want to come and play hard without a lot of optimism or hopes down the end of the road. They’re going to get a chance in the exhibition season to play a little bit, and maybe somebody else will have an opportunity to pick them up or see something they like.”
