Marcin Gortat is a warrior. His nickname earned while playing in Europe is the Polish Machine. You can't stop a machine by breaking his thumb.
The Polish Machine explained:
"You know what, I'm not going to back off from anything. You got to cut my arm off, cut my head off to make sure I'm not going to play. As long as I can walk, as long as I can see everything, I'm going to be playing. I've been waiting for a chance to play as a starter for so many years, I'm not going to give it up like that."
Gortat broke the bone at the tip of his right thumb in the second quarter of Tuesday's game in Denver when either Rudy Fernandez or Timofey Mozgov slapped down at the ball that was in Gortat's hands.
"This is a huge disappointment to me but I guess that's how it has to be right now," he said.
Gortat didn't participate in shoot around on Thursday and will be held out of the Suns' second preseason game. He did get some work in after practice but only was using his left hand. Not once did he touch the ball with his right hand which he held close to his body during shooting and running drills.
Marcin hopes the thumb will feel even better by Monday's season opener, but it certainly sounds like he's going to play regardless. It remains to be seen how effective he can be on offense and rebounding the ball.
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