Rodney Hood didn’t try to hold back his smile.

When the big screen above the Moda Center court showed the Trail Blazers forward on the bench with 1:02 left in the first quarter on Saturday night, Hood looked up and waved and he couldn’t hold back a massive grin as the cheers rained down from all corners of the building.

A few months ago, finding a smile and enjoying a basketball game seemed nearly impossible. But with a positive outlook, and the support of this family Hood is finding the strength to crack a smile.

“I’m coming along nicely,” Hood said, his left foot still in a walking boot. “I’ll be out the boot in about a week. Knock on wood. I feel good about where I’m at.”

The first few days were the hardest. The five days between tearing the Achilles tendon in his left foot on Dec. 6 and getting surgery in southern California on Dec. 11 were the most challenging stretch of his professional career. With his season over and his career threatened, Hood found himself in a dark place. But a long conversation with his wife, Richa, helped pull him out of a spiral. By the time he got out of surgery, he was starting to shift his perspective.

“I was real down on myself,” Hood said. “But once I went into surgery I had a long talk with my wife. I was real positive when I got out of surgery. I was going to attack rehab, do the little things and become a better person, a better player mentally. Once I come back, I know it’s a long process, but I think I’ll be better for it.”

That’s why Hood’s smile on the big screen was so significant. Early in the process he had trouble watching games. It was difficult to watch his teammates struggle and know he wouldn’t be able to help on the court. He said even showing up at the arena on Saturday was invigorating, and for him to feel the joy of basketball again was an important milestone.

“I’ve been in good spirits. At first it was kinda tough just to put things in perspective, but I just been grinding,” Hood said. “My family and my teammates, and everybody has been real positive. So I’m just trying to have fun with it. Obviously it’s not what I want, but I’m having fun with it. I’m making the best out of it.”

While Hood’s first public appearances came this week when he sat behind the bench for the Blazers game against the Lakers in Los Angeles on Friday and then made his return to the Moda Center Saturday night, he’s been a fixture behind the scenes. He’s been going through daily rehabilitation workouts at the team’s practice facility in Tualatin and says that he could have already ditched the walking boot, but his doctors were being extra cautious.

After he got hurt, Hood said over 20 different NBA players reached out, including several who had sustained an Achilles’ injury and were familiar with long road back. He said he talked with Kevin Durant, Joe Johnson and Wesley Matthews about the rehab process and picked their brains for tips on recovery and staying positive during an arduous rehab cycle.

“Just to learn from the process,” Hood said of the advice he received. “Don’t think it’s going to be easy. It’s going to be a tough grind, but just learn about yourself throughout it. Don’t waste this time just sitting around, just learn about yourself. So I been doing that. I been doing a lot of reading, watching a lot of basketball, watching a lot of shows. So it’s been good. I’m spending a lot of time with my family. That’s been the best part about it.”

With the boot off, Hood will ramp up his activities. He doesn’t have a definitive timeline for when he’ll play again, but he’s optimistic he’s headed in the right direction.

“I’ll continue to build strength with it, within my Achilles, and keep taking steps and passing my tests and checklists that I got,” he said. “I should be healing pretty fast, barring no setbacks.”