Borchardt spends idle time watching his wife when she's on TV, and listening to her other games on the Internet when the Jazz aren't also playing.

"To be able to follow her, and kind of have my basketball season through her, and celebrate her successes," he says, "has been something that's invaluable for me."

That, though, needn't last long — perhaps only another year, should Susan return for a final season at Stanford. Also an option: turning pro herself this summer and trying to make it in the WNBA, whose season does not conflict with the NBA's.

Either way, stretches like the one they're enduring now — four, maybe five weeks without so much as a minute together — won't go on forever.

"I'm really looking forward," Curtis says, "to a time when she and I can live together and enjoy that."

From a distance, their thoughts separated by a few hours and many miles, Susan echoes the notion.

"Living together in a normal life," she says. "I'm looking forward to that."

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com