An injured Shane Larkin has to prove himself -- again

ShaneLarkinCanes
DALLAS -- From high school to college, Shane Larkin always had to prove he was big enough, wise enough and talented enough to play basketball.
Now the Dallas Mavericks' rookie point guard has to prove himself -- again.

Drafted No. 18 overall out of Miami this past June, Larkin was all set to strut his stuff when the Mavs traveled to Las Vegas in July for summer league play. But on the day the Mavs were slated to leave for Vegas, Larkin unfortunately fractured his right ankle during a practice session at American Airlines Center.
Larkin underwent successful surgery on July 16 and was slated to be sidelined for approximately three months.

On Monday, the day before the Mavs opened training camp, Larkin said of his return: "It’s looking like I should be good to return in the middle of training camp, so we’ll just see what happens. There’s no positive (return) date, so we’ll see what happens.''

Whenever Larkin returns, the 5-11, 176-pounder knows he'll have to show he has the right stuff to perform at this level. Still, he can't help but recall the day he broke his ankle.

"Initially they thought it was just a high ankle sprain or a sprain,'' Larkin said. "To find out it was broken it was like you finally accomplish your dream, you finally make it to the NBA, you finally have that chance to prove yourself once again and you break your ankle.

"But it's just more of a bigger chip on my shoulder, more to prove. People wrote me off, people forgot about me, I have no chance, so back to square one, back to where I started out.''


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(star-telegram.com)
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