Just like almost everybody else, Timberwolves forward Adreian Payne had to look up the definition when doctors diagnosed the spots on his skin and the blood blisters in his mouth as a condition called thrombocytopenia.
Until he noticed those more than a month ago, he'd never heard of a platelets deficiency that causes internal bleeding, bruising and slow clotting after injury. Neither he nor his doctors could pinpoint what caused it.
"Yeah, I didn't even know what it was, just read up on it like you guys did and try to go from there," Payne told reporters before Wednesday's home game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
His therapy: "Just medication and time."
Payne missed 13 games before he declared himself "feeling good, healthy," and "happy to be with the team" on Wednesday.
"It was hard, especially not being able to play basketball, be around the guys," said Payne, who has played sporadically this season. "I've never been out like that before. It was kind of scary in the sense if I got into an accident or hit and there was internal bleeding, they couldn't have done anything about it because my platelets were so low."
He calls himself now "full go," but can't be sure how much conditioning he lost in the past month.
"I don't know," he said. "I haven't played."
