If he had his way, Sean May would be working out with the Charlotte Bobcats and heading to New York later today, awaiting not only the team’s Wednesday night meeting with the Knicks but also hopefully a continuation of the most productive streak in his brief time in the NBA.

That’s not possible, of course, considering the right ankle sprain he suffered last weekend in a home game against Boston and the subsequent swelling that will likely keep him on the outside looking in for seven to 10 more days.

Such a scenario would almost certainly have had May deep in the emotional dumps had it occurred a few weeks ago. Instead, after his emergence over an eight-game period, he is accepting the injury as part of doing business in the NBA and is eager to get back in the flow.

“I just try not to get discouraged and try to stay positive – that always helps the healing process,” May said. “Hopefully when I get back, I’ll still stay on that same pace that I was on before it happened.”

May can look at what he hopes will be the bright side of his second season in the league, thanks in large part to talks he had late last month with his coach, Bernie Bickerstaff, and his dad, Scott May. The discussions lifted May out of a serious funk and produced a hot streak that lifted both his spirits and the Bobcats’ performance level.

“I have the ability,” May said. “It just really took coach sitting me down and me recognizing that if I want to play on this team and in this league, I’ve got to be professional and bring it every night. You really can’t be inconsistent – you’ve got to do it every night.”

May, a 6-9 forward from North Carolina who was a first-round draft pick in 2005, didn’t realize he hadn’t been “doing it” before the chat with Bickerstaff. He had scored in double figures occasionally and started five times in Charlotte’s first 11 games. He was, he thought, about to find his way after an injury forced him to miss most of his rookie season.

That wasn’t the case, as he realized after playing only six minutes one night and seven the next in Thanksgiving weekend games against Detroit and Miami.

“I was a little stressed out,” he said recently. “I called my dad about 10 times a day to get his thoughts. I didn’t really understand what was going on. Just talking to Bernie, he said I was out there not working myself, not playing the way he envisioned me playing.

“As a player, when someone talks about effort, that’s a slap in the face. So it just gave me a little kick in the behind to get things started. What I’ve tried to do lately is, every time I go in the game I just try to play with a little more bounce in my step. I try to do that especially on the defensive end and try to rebound and be in the right spot.

“I had thought that I was doing what I needed to be doing,” he added. “And when I looked at the film – I watch every game when I go home – I thought that I was doing what I needed to be doing. But the numbers weren’t there. I was playing six minutes and having one or two rebounds. It just wasn’t enough. Anytime your boss says you need to do a little bit more, you need to do a little bit more. So that’s what I’ve been doing, just trying to do my part.”

May, in other words, got the messages. The one from his dad, who had watched the Bobcats games on television from his Indiana home and told his son that he needed to have a little more bounce, be a little more active and try to add a spark. And the one from Bickerstaff, whose session with May included some time watching tape.

He settled into a reserve role and his numbers began to change in near-overnight fashion. He had averaged 10.3 points, 47.1 shooting, 6.3 rebounds and 22.8 minutes in the first 11 games of the season, then went scoreless with only one rebound in the two limited-minutes appearances. But after the talks?

Before the ankle sprain forced him out of Saturday’s loss to Boston after only 10 minutes, he had sizzled in nine consecutive games, averaging 18.3 points, 56.2 percent shooting and 7.9 rebounds. He was making much more of an impact despite averaging only 5.1 more minutes per game.

He scored in double figures in seven of the nine games, hit a career high with 26 points against Phoenix on Dec. 10, and then topped that with 32 in a victory over Orlando on December 14.

His overall season averages of 12.6 points and 6.7 rebounds make him one of only two NBA reserves – the Clippers Corey Maggette is the other – to average more than 10.0 points and 5.0 rebounds.

“Your role starts to get defined,” May said. “I know that every night, unless there’s (an unexpected situation that eliminates a starter) I’m going to come off the bench and try to provide a spark. Bench play is a key for every team. That might not be my job down the food chain somewhere, but it is now and I’ll take it and go with it.

“Coming off the bench has been an adjustment but I’m getting used to it. You have to prepare differently. I just tell myself, ‘Hey, I’ve got to come out and give them a spark’ because the guys who start the game need somebody to come in. They need to feel that when they come out of the game there’s not going to be a letdown.

“I’m finally starting to get comfortable,” he added. “I’m starting to come into my own right now, and hopefully it will just carry on for the rest of the season.”

There will be the inevitable bumps in the road, of course. He’s going over one of them now, nursing the ankle back to strength.

But given where he could be, still struggling to find his way, it’s a small hurdle. And it’s one that is unlikely to derail him for any length of time once he is back at full strength.

Leonard Laye covered the NBA, ABA and college basketball for more than three decades for the Charlotte Observer and the old Charlotte News until his retirement from writing sports fulltime. He will write a regular column throughout the season for BobcatsBasketball.com for his second straight year.