Longtime Pistons trainer Mike Abdenour has returned to the team after missing 32 days following a heart attack, reports Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. If you recall, Abdenour went on medical leave for undisclosed reasons on March 25, and he's happy to return. From Langlois:
"Anybody who knows me knows that aside from my wife and children, my number one love in life is the Detroit Pistons and everything we stand for and believe in. So when you're away from it for the 32 days I was away from it, you appreciate what Joe Dumars, Tom Gores, Phil Norment, Bob Wentworth, Dennis Mannion and the entire organization stand for and believe in," he said. "If this is not the best organization in professional sports to work for, I defy anybody to tell me differently. You have an appreciation and a love for this job that much more."
Abdenour woke up the morning of March 24 with a tight chest, which he dismissed as indigestion. His symptoms grew worse, though, and ultimately his wife convinced him to go to the hospital -- from the sounds of it, just in time. Langlois writes that Abdenour was suffering from a "100 percent blockage of the lower anterior artery." After taking time to recover, he's been cleared to resume his duties.
Abdenour has been a mainstay on the Pistons sidelines for the last 34 years -- aside from a three-year stint with the Philadelphia 76ers, he's been the Pistons trainer since 1975. I'm thrilled to hear that he's back at full strength and his usual self:
"Will I still be the ball-busting, sarcastic SOB that people assume that I am? Yes," he smiles. "I'm looking at life right now like, ‘Hey, this is how it is, this is how we're rolling and if you want to jump on the train and be a part of it, great. If not, I don't have time for you any more.' But it is so good to be back."