Few stories have touched the SEABL basketball community this year like that of Lester Strong from Knox.
Back in late April, the power-forward was involved in a serious head-on car accident. Strong suffered injuries to his face, leg, shoulder and neck.
It’s fair to say that the Raiders’ basketball plans were thrown into disarray at the time. Lester had been central to the team in their 2009 championship run, and had become well entrenched in the Knox program, having played there for the last 3 years.
The basketball community held their breath waiting to hear the extent of Lester’s injuries.
But when it was announced that he would make a full recovery, everyone, including those from rival organisations, breathed a little easier.
While it was initially anticipated that Lester may miss up to 3 months with the injury, the Raiders were remarkably without his services for only 5 games.
Lester returned to the floor against the Gunners in round 9, contributing 2 points and 5 rebounds in just 9:28 minutes on the floor, as coach Longstaff monitored his return.
Now three months since the dreaded incident, Strong spoke about the day that he will never forget, “I feel like I’ve been blessed. Every now and then I find myself clinching up at the wheel, but since I didn’t actually see the accident, it doesn’t don on my mind too much. When I hear or see something about a car accident on the news it makes me feel a little queasy and I realise mine probably could have been worse.”
The Denver native went on to explain in detail the extent of his injuries, “With the pain in my neck, I didn’t really know how serious it was. The burns on my right leg from the airbag kept me off the court the most. The slight tear in my right shoulder healed up before the injury near my eye [that required plastic surgery].”
Looking back, Strong has had time to reflect on the incident, and gives thanks to those that helped him through the difficult time. “I’d like to pay special mention to the club and the people around me that supported me and helped me get back on the floor.”
Strong’s Player of the Week performance across two games in rounds 19 is testament to his dedication and the support from those around him. 27 points and 8 rebounds against Conference leaders Bendigo on Friday night was backed up with 23 points and 9 rebounds against a desperate Ballarat on Sunday.
Ominously for opposition teams, Lester is hitting form at the right time of the year. But even more worryingly, is that there might be more to come from the Knox big man.
“I still don’t feel like I’m fully back at 100%, but I’m moving closer to it.”
Asked how he rates his team’s chances of being crowned SEABL Champions again for 2010, Strong responded, “I rate our chances pretty high of repeating and three-peating the East. We seem to be gelling well at the moment but like many teams, we’ve still got room to improve.”
Regardless, Knox is still a team that most sides would rather avoid in the playoffs, and Lester obviously relishes the opportunity to lift when it counts.
“Stepping up my game in finals is something I take pride in. I take the mentality that you either win or go home, and it’s simple as that.”
