Utah Jazz: Williams still hopes to play in Jazz season opener

Deron Williams did not stand.

He instead rested in one chair, his sprained left ankle propped on another.

Speaking while he sat, the injured Jazz point guard suggested he still holds out hope for playing in the team's 2008-09 NBA regular-season opener, which comes Wednesday night vs. the Denver Nuggets.

He also hinted that reality, however, prompts him to suspect the likelihood is slim at best.

"I'm not going to rule it out," Williams said. "But Doc (Jazz team physician Dr. Lyle Mason) says it's not looking too good for opening night, just the way it looks right now."

A Jazz-released timetable for Williams' anticipated absence — "a minimum of two weeks," dating to last Monday — also suggests he will miss the opener.

He very much does, however, want to overcome the odds against him.

"I'm still gonna try. I'm gonna try to get back as soon as possible," said Williams, who on Wednesday was speaking publicly about the sprain for the first time.

"I don't know how long it's going to take," he added. "It could be two weeks, it could be less, it could be more."

Williams sprained the ankle when he landed on the foot of Chicago point guard Derrick Rose after attempting a 3-point shot in the first quarter of last Saturday night's preseason road game against the Bulls.

The Jazz are calling it a second-degree inversion sprain, which by definition involves a partial ligament tear.

Williams suggested he initially feared he would be out long-term with a dislocated ankle.

"I saw it happen, and when I started to roll I looked down and saw it go all the way out," he said. "Then it popped, and it popped back in. So, I thought something slid out or I broke something. I didn't know.

"I don't know anything about injuries ... That's why I was so worried about it," Williams added. "That was the first thought, was I was going to miss the whole season. I was happy when the X-rays were negative."

Encouraged about playing again soon, too.

"I mean, it's a sprained ankle. It's not like (returning sooner rather than later) is going to do any damage further," Williams said. "It's just when I feel I can play, and when I feel I can cut off it. That's the main thing. You know, you're never gonna know until you get out there and you cut and you move like you would in a game."

The member of Team USA's gold medal-winning 2008 Olympic club addressed several issues related to his absence Wednesday, including:

• The role on the play of Rose, the No. 1 overall selection in last June's NBA Draft: "I watched it again. I mean, he was completely turned around. So, he didn't know. It wasn't on purpose."