Video: KG Limps Through Celtics Practice

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the NBA's race for a championship is far less interesting with Kevin Garnett on the sidelines. Nothing would have been better to see the Celtics defend their title at full strength last season, and nothing would be better than a full strength Boston squad -- plus Rasheed Wallace -- battling the Cavaliers and the Magic to come out of the Eastern Conference this year.

But while KG is indeed back to practicing with his teammates, as you'll see in the following video clip, his knee appears to be far from ready for the rigors of the regular season.



Now of course, it's possible that the injury has healed to the point where Garnett can't do any further damage, and it might be a case of him having to just work through the pain during the final stage of his recovery.

If that's what we're seeing, then Garnett's work ethic to continue his rehab while still in obvious pain is commendable. Let's just hope that he'll be able to make it back to a hundred percent at some point this season, and that we're not seeing something similar to what we saw with Gilbert Arenas last year.