Celtics Ask Garnett to Wait on Surgery

After Saturday's loss to the Bulls, Doc Rivers didn't exactly seemed thrilled to face the press, let alone answer questions about players that didn't even dress. When a reporter asked why Kevin Garnett was absent from the bench in the second half, Rivers reached a boiling point.

"Guys, Kevin is not playing in this playoffs," Rivers said. "I'm not answering Kevin Garnett questions. I didn't even notice, honestly, until someone told me that he wasn't on the bench and I could care less. You know, hell, he was on the bench in the first half and we were down [nine]. So this is about the players in uniform. Kevin is gone. And he ain't coming back. The guys in uniform have to play."

Kevin isn't here, Kevin won't play -- it's the same mantra Rivers has been repeating since Thursday. So when the Boston Herald reported that Garnett was looking to have surgery "sooner rather than later" to fix his knee, it seemed like we'd finally hear the end of the Garnett questions ... right?

Not quite. As much as Rivers doesn't like talking about Garnett, he kept the door open for more speculation when he admitted to the Boston Herald this morning that the team has asked KG to postpone surgery. Later, Garnett was also seen dribbling on a court wearing practice clothes in the team's practice facility before disappearing from the media's watchful gaze.

What does it all mean? It's too early to say, but it's not hard to connect the dots and speculate that both Garnett and the Celtics are hoping he might be able to return before the end of Boston's playoff run. Stay tuned.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-19-2009 @ 8:25PM

vandervoorts said...

enough about Garnett, we lost to Chicago!! We better get some youth on this team

4-19-2009 @ 11:42PM

Nora said...

Is that what you thought last year when they won the championship?

4-20-2009 @ 6:13AM

obamaizadope said...

Doc got too comfortable having KG out there. I could win a championship with KG. Time to find out what Doc is made of..

4-20-2009 @ 8:52AM

littleomer49 said...

Celts will be fine. They had a horrible shooting night and let the Baby Bulls steal one. It won't happen again. Watch out Cleveland, you're still going to have to beat Boston!

4-20-2009 @ 9:10AM

rjw6683 said...

Possibly, but we are thinking about Detroit right now. It would be smart for you people up in Boston to show some respect to Chicago and worry about your series too, or you may not get out of the first round. It's the 2009 playoffs so what you did last year and what you did in the regular season doesn't give you a free pass to the finals.

4-20-2009 @ 9:30AM

Oh? Boston, the #2 seed and defending Champions, gets no free pass...but Cleveland does?

4-20-2009 @ 9:44AM

We don't expect to walk though the playoffs as echoed by our team in interviews. We are worried about the next game in the schedule. Detroit has tons of playoff experience and quality players so I still feel this series will be a fight. Especially when we head up to Detroit. Boston fans seem to worry about playing us in the finals by the comments. I'll worry about the finals if we make it there.

4-20-2009 @ 9:43AM

toudenoir said...

Time for a Willis Reed move. The difference: Willis was about to play the seventh game of an NBA final and his supporting cast consists of fundamentally sound and great players.

Boston! we have a problem.

4-20-2009 @ 10:57AM

samtull said...

Boston has enough to get by the first round.

Paul Pierce blew that first win. The rest of the team has to step up their game espcially Ray Allen who once again just disappeared

4-20-2009 @ 12:58PM

shepardtrent said...

What a joke Ray Allen is. The only shot he can make is one to the groin. Ray Allen = Mr. Cheap Shot.

4-20-2009 @ 2:23PM

NachoD said...

As much as the Celtics hyped the talk about waiting for the Knicks to release Stephon Marbury so he could come in and team up with Kevin Garnett to help put them over the top, I just wanna know, WHAT HAPPENED?