If Carl Landry is sincere -- and there's no reason to believe he's not -- he's going to turn into a hell of a player. Not that Landry isn't already making an important contribution to the Houston Rockets, but you get the sense a little bit of rededication is taking place.How can it not?
A little more than three weeks ago, Landry was shot in what police are calling a failed robbery attempt. After returning to Houston from a road game, Landry's SUV was sideswiped by another car, and then hit again, causing it to hit a wooden utility pole and stop.
Landry got out of his car, and two men got out of the other car; one of them pulled a pistol from his back pocket. The man fired twice and one of the bullets struck Landry in his calf.
Landry would run six blocks for help as the men gave up chasing after him.
"It's just something you never think about happening to you," said Landry, who had eight points in Friday's win over the Warriors. "You see it on TV, you see it on the movies and sometimes you even dream about it. But you never think it will happen to you. You can't even describe it."
Landry said he remembers the ride to the hospital in the ambulance, and wondering whether he'd ever play basketball again.
"I didn't know how severe it was or the seriousness of the situation," Landry said. "I just knew I'd been hit, a victim of an attempted robbery. That's all I knew. I didn't know what was going on after that. I didn't know if my season was going to end or even my career was going to end. I just knew I was still alive. That what I was most grateful about."
Landry's attitude and work ethic have never been an issue. After all, he was a second-round pick last year who found a way to break through into Houston's rotation as a rookie.
He was building on his surprising season of 2008-09 before the mid-March shooting.
"In the morning, I see the sunlight shining through the windows," Landry said. "That's something that I've never really seen. Things that people and myself used to take for granted, I thank God for every day. You always hear people say the little things count the most. Now I see exactly what they mean."
Landry is back to playing 20 minutes or so a game for the Rockets, and at this point looks like his old self. He's scoring a little bit, rebounding, of course, blocking some shots and setting a defensive tone on the interior.
Then again, he's not the same player. Never will be.
"I'll definitely spend more time in the gym," Landry said. "Definitely take this game seriously because you never know when it's your last game or last opportunity. You never know when you hear your name called for the last time. This will definitely make me a better player."
