NBA

Bogans was afraid career had ended after injuries against Pistons

When Keith Bogans tore the deltoid ligament and fractured his left ankle in a home loss to the Pistons on Feb. 8, the 32-year-old was afraid that his career might have come to an end.

“They kind of scared me a little bit,” Bogans said Monday at Nets media day at Barclays Center. “I didn’t know if it was career-ending. I knew it was season-ending, but didn’t know it was career-ending until I went to the doctor. At that point, my back was against the wall … I didn’t want to stop playing basketball.

“Once I found out that it wasn’t, I vowed to myself that I was going to get in the best shape of my life and just work hard every day. That’s what I’ve been doing since.”

Bogans was speaking at media day after re-signing with the Nets on a one-year deal this summer. Once Bogans knew he would have a chance to resume his career this season if he could get healthy, he said returning to the Nets was always at the top of his list.

“If you look back at even when I first got hurt, [Nets coach] Avery [Johnson] made the comment that I’ll be healthy and back in training camp by next season,” Bogans said. “I looked at that as a motivating factor for me, because I hadn’t signed a contract yet.

“So he was kind of telling me that if I get healthy, I can come back. That was enough for me to go home and work my [butt] off and get ready to get back.”

Bogans returns to a Nets team that’s dramatically different from the one he joined in February, one that is capable of making the playoffs and potentially making some noise. The players have already been working out together at the team’s practice facility over the past few weeks, something Bogans said he was a part of one other time – the 2010-11 Bulls, a team that he started on at shooting guard, won 62 games and was the Eastern Conference’s top seed.

“We [worked out early together] in Chicago, and the result was the year we had in Chicago,” Bogans said. “This team reminds me a lot of what we had in Chicago, but I think we have more talent.

“We honestly have more talent.”

tbontemps@nypost.com