At the advanced Basketball age of 32, with a long medical history that includes unlikely complications from surgery this past summer, Harpring is fighting through a difficult season and looking and feeling old. He's still trying to regain strength and mobility in his right ankle, while having younger players take court time from him during an apparent phase-out stretch of his career that leads coach Jerry Sloan to observe rather coldly, "This is a cruel business, any way you want to look at it."

It is for Harpring, whose playing time and scoring averages have regularly decreased in recent years, but never more so than this season. When he stayed on the bench during a victory over Golden State last week via coach's decision, it marked the first "DNP-CD" of his seven-year Jazz career. Even more telling about his status was Monday's game against Indiana, as he played less than nine minutes, even with the injury absences of forwards Paul Millsap and C.J. Miles increasing everybody else's playing time. It all stems from the ankle, which has "hampered his play," according to Sloan, who's hoping a healthy Harpring can do more in the second half of the season. "I have tremendous feelings for Matt. He's helped us win a lot of games."

At this stage, though, having appeared in about two-thirds of the team's games for an average of barely 10 minutes, the second-oldest Jazzman (Brevin Knight is 33) is pretty much an extra in this year's production.

That's not much fun for one of the few scorers in team history to average in double figures for five consecutive seasons, and comfortably one of the franchise's 25 best all-time players.

"It's a battle every day to get healthy," said Harpring, dressing quickly after that Indiana game, leaving the locker room with a wry smile and this summary: "So far, I haven't woken up and said, 'I feel great today.' That hasn't happened yet."

The next morning, near the end of his own workout that preceded the Jazz's practice, Harpring became so immersed in the story of his offseason that he stopped pedaling a stationary bike. While he's not contributing at his usual level and faces the reality of having younger, rising players alter his role with the team, Harpring can find consolation in the frightening days of June when, as he said, "One of my goals was to play an NBA game again."

It was that bad.

And the surgery was so routine. Compared with some of the procedures Harpring underwent almost annually during his first 10 years in the NBA, this seemed minor: the removal of two bone spurs from his ankle, which the Jazz reported as "successful."

Harpring picks up the narrative: "A week later, the next thing I know, I'm driving to the emergency room in tears. There was so much pain. I couldn't move my ankle, I couldn't move my toes. It just so happened so quick."

An infection developed, damaging the muscles and tendons in the ankle and resulting in a lengthy recovery. It meant four days in a hospital near his home in Atlanta, followed by weeks of intravenous antibiotics, crutches and medication.

"I never take pain pills," he said, shaking his head.

Naturally, everybody wonders what he did wrong, inviting the infection.

"I didn't do anything; it just happens," he said. "They tell you surgery is 99-point-whatever successful, and the other percentage is infection. Out of all the surgeries I've had, I guess the numbers got to me."

So he lives with the pain, mixed with the frustration of wishing he could run faster and jump higher, with a 32-year-old body that already had its limits, relative to NBA-level abilities. Harpring knows the end is approaching.

His four-year, $25 million contract expires after next season, and who knows how the Jazz roster will look then. He just appreciates playing at all, amid everything.

"Yeah, it's worth it," he said. "If you're a competitor and you love the game of Basketball ? you've got to come back. I mean, I was so far away from playing Basketball that I just wanted to get out and be able to compete again. It was looking real dim there for a while. It's slow, but you just keep going, you know?"

For as long as it takes, and as long as he lasts.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com Pattern of decline

Jazz forward Matt Harpring's scoring average has dropped each year, usually according to reduced playing time:

Season Min. Pts.

2002-03 32.8 17.6

2003-04 36.6 16.2

2004-05 33.1 14.0

2005-06 27.4 12.5

2006-07 25.5 11.6

2007-08 18.1 8.2

2008-09 10.3 3.8