April 15--If Nazr Mohammed plays in Wednesday's regular-season finale, he will become the 115th player in NBA history (123rd counting ABA statistics) to appear in 1,000 games.
"Tell coach (Tom Thibodeau) that," Mohammed said, joking, when informed of the milestone. "Make sure I get in that minute for my 1,000th game."
It would be quite the feat for the Kenwood Academy graduate, who has made 22 appearances in his unlikely 17th season. Interestingly, Mohammed said he recently noticed Spurs guard Tony Parker passed the career benchmark but didn't know about his own imminent status.
"It would be nice," Mohammed said. "I didn't think I would play 1,000 games. It's nice to know that there's some type of milestone being around this long. That's pretty good, especially all the guys who have come through this league."
The 76ers acquired Mohammed's first-round draft rights way back in 1998 after his college career at Kentucky. He owns one championship ring with the 2004-05 Spurs and has long been noted as a positive locker-room presence.
Full speed ahead: Even though Monday's blowout victory over the Nets prevented Derrick Rose from playing his fourth segment in the fourth quarter, both Thibodeau and Rose are pleased with his conditioning after four games back.
"It's more the quality of his minutes," Thibodeau said. "I think he's playing his minutes with great intensity. And that's what I want him to do. He could've gone in. And if the game was a different game, he would've gone in. I think his wind is coming around. His conditioning is improving. His timing is improving. Those are all real good signs."
Proceed with caution: Joakim Noah is doutbful for Wednesday after getting a rest day Monday for his left knee.
"He was real good in the shoot-around (Monday) morning," Thibodeau said. "It's just some tendinitis. This time of the year, when something flares up like that, we're going to play it safe."
kcjohnson@tribpub.com
