Give Sean May a choice and he’d much rather be talking about basketball. All the conversation about nagging knee pain, rehab and his on-again, off-again NBA schedule is getting a little stale.

It’s understandable. May is nearing the end of a second consecutive abbreviated season as a forward with the Charlotte Bobcats and has appeared in only 58 games – 23 last season, 35 this season -- of the 121 the Bobcats have played with him on the roster.

“It’s a struggle, mentally as well as physically,” May said. “Sometimes in the back of the mind you’re wondering, ‘Hey, am I ever going to get back on the court?’”

It’s enough to get a guy down. But while May admits he’s been in the dumps on occasion, he’s not there now and doesn’t intend to go back.

He has had good reports from his doctors. He has been productive and has frequently put up big numbers when he’s been able to play, giving credence to the promise the Bobcats envisioned when they made him the former North Carolina forward a first-round draft pick. And he is fighting back against the pain, planning a weight loss program this summer that should ease the stress on his right knee.

There is, he believes, light at the end of the tunnel.

“It’s not like I’m having injury after injury,” May said. “It’s just this one thing that we can’t get right. But every doctor I’ve talked to said with time it will get right.

“This summer is a big one for me. I’m going to try to get down to about 250 or 255 pounds to help take some of the stress off the knee. Right now I’m about 265 to 268. I go back and forth. If I can drop 10 or 15 pounds it will help.”

May twice had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, one just before the start of his rookie season and another midway through that season. Another NBA forward, Amare Stoudemire of Phoenix, had surgery on each knee and missed all but three games last season, only to come back as an All-Star this season.

“You see Amare,” May said. “He played a little bit heavier (before surgery). He’s had no problems with his knees so that (weight loss) is something that’s obviously going to help…

“The thing about it with me was, when I first hurt my knee I thought it was tendonitis and I just kept playing and made it worse. That eventually kept me out too long. Now that I’ve been here and I know the type of pain that it is, if it happens again I shut it down for a week and let it heal, then get right back out there.”

May played in 30 of Charlotte’s first 36 games this season, averaging 11.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 49.3 percent shooting. Then came the ups and downs with the knee pain: He played seven games, missed four with soreness, played two, missed 20 and returned for three before the pain forced him out the last four games.

He had an impact as the Bobcats won two of three upon his brief return. He scored 13 and 14 in the first two, hitting a combined 11-18 shots. He followed with 20 points and 12 rebounds against Sacramento. His 9-17 shooting performance included two three-pointers, one of them decisive in the waning moments of a 111-108 Charlotte victory.

“That’s what he does,” said Bobcats General Manager and Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff. “His touch is really easy. It kind of reminds me of a guy we had in Washington, Tracy Murray. Those guys just go out almost to half court and just flip the wrist, because everything is with the wrist.

“He’s done well, considering everything. He’s played well. He’s shot the ball. That’s been the one thing that’s been his strength since coming back. He’s been making shots. And his teammates have been getting him the ball when he’s open.”

And the three-pointers?

“We work on it,” May said. “It’s something I want to add to my game. When I was out, when I couldn’t do anything but shoot, I’d get 50 to 100 (three-pointers) up every time we shot around.

“A lot of people don’t expect me to shoot threes. Last season I started shooting from 12 to 15 feet out. Now I’m out to 15-20 feet. Eventually I’ll move out to that arc on a more consistent basis.”

May knows he’s not all the way back, either physically or mentally. But he is pushing ahead in both areas.

“I’m still a little rusty on the court,” he said. “I’m still trying to get my feel back. When I was out the only thing I could do was shoot. Fortunately I didn’t lose my touch and my ability to find spots. My teammates have been getting me the ball in spots where I can be successful. I’m still struggling a little bit. I still have a little bit of pain and I’m trying to get over it. Mentally I’ve just tried to keep up my morale. My friends help me keep my spirits up and I talk to my dad a lot and that helps…

“Last season when the team went on a long road trip I didn’t go. And that’s when you really get down and kind of depressed because the guys aren’t around… It’s like you don’t feel you’re in the thing.

“That’s why this season I traveled even though I knew I wasn’t going to play on the six-game (Western) road trip,” he added. “That’s the best part about it, being around the guys, being in the locker room. That’s where you build the relationships.

“When your career is over those are the things you’ll remember. It’s not all about what happens on the court.”

May obviously wants to be back on the court as well so he keeps pushing and looking ahead.

“What this is going to help me with is 10, 12 years down the line when that little bit of athleticism I do have is gone,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll be able to just play the game and be able to make an impact in some way.

“So this is something that I’m sure is not going to plague me my whole career but for now, it’s just some that I have to deal with.”

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.