The Chronicle's Will Flaherty sat down with former Duke big man Shavlik Randolph at the end of Thursday's Philadelphia 76ers practice in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Will Flaherty: What's it like to be back?
Shavlik Randolph: I don't feel like I really went out of town. I feel like I came back home. That's exactly what I did. I've been getting to spend a lot of time with my family and my brother and just do things that I wouldn't get to do once the NBA season starts.
WF: What do you think of this year's Duke team?
SR: "They look really strong. The new guys coming in, the freshmen-Taylor [King], Nolan [Smith] and Kyle [Singler]-look really good and so do the returning guys. I'm expecting big things from them this year."
WF: You were injured pretty seriously last year. How tough has that been for you?
SR: Physically, it's the most painful thing I've ever had to go through. there's nothing that compared to that. Once I got the x-ray and they diagnosed what I had-I had shattered my fibula and I had torn the ligaments on the inside of my ankle, which is bad, and takes a long time to recover from, but it's not something that won't heal.
It was eight to nine months before I could even start to think about playing. I didn't even step onto a court for three and a half or four months and, even now, it's still not 100 percent. They say it takes over a year to feel normal, and it's been 10 months.
WF: Is this the kind of thing that teaches you to deal with adversity?
SR: Yes, it does, but I've always put my faith in God in everything that's happened in my life and what I'm doing, to me, is bigger than basketball. I'm trying to carry out His will whether that includes basketball or not-and I'm pretty confident it does-I'm not too worried about that. I'm just going to go out and play and trust in Him.
WF: Do you ever think about your choice to leave Duke?
SR: It was a decision I had to make in my heart. I knew a lot of people-everybody was telling me not to do it and it wasn't a smart decision-and it probably wasn't a smart decision, but I just knew in my heart that this is what I had to do. I had to pursue a dream that I had been pursuing my whole life. And it was tough for me to leave these guys, especially not getting drafted and people not thinking I was going to do something. But I had to trust in myself, more importantly, I had to trust in God and just do what I had to do.
WF: Would you go back and make a different decision?
SR: No.
WF: What do you like most about life in the NBA?
SR: The free time you get-not having to go to study hall after practice. And the least? Having to dress up real nice for games. I don't dress up well.
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