Here at Celtics Media Day in Waltham, the first news of the day concerns guard Tony Allen.
Allen, entering his 6th season with Boston, was out of commission for 13 weeks this summer with a torn tendon in his ankle. His status for the preseason is questionable. Allen only appeared in 42 games for the Celtics in the 2008/09 season.
Kevin Garnett has no restrictions:
Celtics coach Doc Rivers today said Kevin Garnett has no medical restrictions and has been cleared to practice with the team when they open training camp tomorrow in Newport, R.I.
"I think with Kevin and [Kendrick Perkins] and [Tony Allen] and all of them, we'll just get to camp and see how they go," said Rivers. "Right now there are no medical restrictions on any player, and that's good."
KG is pain free, though the injury was more severe than originally thought:
Garnett was cleared to play 5-on-5 basketball last week. But while his rehab has been as expected, the extent of the injury was not.
"No surprises, other than the severity of the injury," said Garnett. "I didn't know it was that bad."
Garnett was asked to clarify.
"It was just what we thought it was, but it was more than that," said Garnett. "Put it like this, a bone spur the size of this tape recorder ended up being the size of this microphone...It's pretty severe, but the best thing about it is I got it out of the way. I'm almost 100 percent going forward. The best thing about it is I'm playing without any pain, which is something I haven't had in quite some time."
First 5-5 game was a struggle for KG, and Pierce didn't even know he'd be playing in them:
The first 5-on-5 game was a bit of a struggle, Garnett said.
"Everything was fast," he said. "[Rajon] Rondo and Lester [Hudson] were faster than ever...It was like being a little kid again, going out there and playing, huffing and puffing. It was good."
Celtics captain Paul Pierce said he had no idea Garnett would be joining in on the team's pickup game last week.
"I think he looked like what you expected," said Pierce. "It's all about him knocking off the rust and not being out there for so long. In my opinion he was real good getting up and down the court."
