Fixing the NBA’s Most Important Knee

by Jeff Clark on Oct 17, 2009 11:05 AM EDT in Boston Celtics News & Links

To the surprise of nobody, Garnett worked really hard on getting back in shape. SLAM has an account of how he worked with trainers to recover from surgery.

For Abunassar and co-trainer Andrew Moore, [KG getting injured again] was not a possibility. They knew how to rebuild Garnett’s legs. They spent considerable time on his legs, guiding him through a series of repetitive exercises with dumbells mini-bands and physio balls. He did calf raises, deadlifts with dumbbells, an assortment of crunches with a medicine ball. They attacked his core from all angles, knowing the stronger Garnett’s core was, the less weight there would be on his legs. "We were probably way more detailed in our approach to preparing him this year than we have ever been," says Abunassar.

Nearly every day Rudy Gay and Memphis Grizzlies teammate Kyle Lowry sluggishly entered the Impact gym at 11 a.m., they saw Garnett sitting in the weight room, catching his breath and staring around the gym. "You don’t even see him work out," says Gay during a practice session at Impact earlier in September. "But then you talk to Joe and he says, ‘yeah, I’ve been here since 7 a.m., working out KG’… that gives you something to learn from."

By September, Garnett’s shots were falling. His step was returning, although it wasn’t completely there, something Garnett would concede to reporters during the second day of the Celtics training camp in Newport, RI. Abunassar knows it’s going to take time for the step to completely return. "The Celtics don’t need him to play in September. They need him to play in May," says Abunassar.

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KG

I went to the Celtics-Nets preseason game and KG looked a little bit slow and seemed to have a little bit of pain. It was good to see him playing but he looked slow and I was a little nervous to see him like that. I hope he is ok by october 27

by Bigpapi34 on Oct 17, 2009 11:55 AM EDT reply actions

Thanks Jeff

Clues us into the process of getting KG ready. Imagine if all NBA players had KG’s dedication.

Overall though, the knee is fine. But when you sit the way he had to, the rest of the body adjusts and atrophies because of the lack of motion. Any hint of slowness or pain is the rest of the body playing catch-up. The knee is fine.

by amenhotep04 on Oct 17, 2009 12:08 PM EDT reply actions

thank you DR.

by lakersbluedevil on Oct 18, 2009 10:06 AM EDT up reply actions

You Are Very Welcome

by amenhotep04 on Oct 18, 2009 2:57 PM EDT up reply actions

a seasoned Glen Davis

plus a healthy dose of ‘Sheed would be able to cover most of the slack, should KG need more time to fully adjust to the speed/physical-ness of the NBA this season. Unlike late last season, we won’t be burdened with injuries or poor defensive match-ups once the ball tips off on Oct. 27, so we will be free to take as much time necessary to ensure that Kevin returns to form at a pace that is not only beneficial to him but to the team as a whole.

by Witch-King on Oct 17, 2009 1:29 PM EDT reply actions

Great article

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I love the inside stories regarding an athlete’s training regimen. I think attacking KG’s core muscle infrastructure to provide a base of stability against over-compensation issues was a smart move. We’ve already seen the shin and calf issues earlier in the preseason (which were unavoidable), and as long as those are the only over-compensation injuries we see, KG’s going to be in great shape this season.

by SalmonAndMashedPotatoes on Oct 17, 2009 1:49 PM EDT reply actions

Haha

At 7 AM most days, I’m not awake for another one or two hours. But during that hour in the summer, KG’s working on his knee. I never doubted KG. : )

I don’t think there’s much to worry about, either. If he’s not 100% by Oct 27, then he’ll probably be reallly close.

by Tai on Oct 17, 2009 2:24 PM EDT reply actions

Maybe Rudy Gay indeed learned something. If you want to be really good, you have to pay the price.

by Brickowski on Oct 17, 2009 5:58 PM EDT reply actions

Veterans

This is a perfect example of having committed veterans on your team. For a young player this is the best way to learn. For a player like J.R. and BBD, if they look at the opportunity they have in the correct light they have a chance to become good players in this league. It seems that both are getting it.

"I don't come to play, I come to WIN"--Larry Bird
"Criminally Negligent Officiating"--Tommy Heinsohn

by TrueGreen on Oct 17, 2009 7:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Waiting game

KG and the Celtics should have had the surgery ASAP. Instead they draged out the ordeal. If they had just shut him down and not tryed to have him come back for those few games before the playoffs and gotten the surgery right away KG would have had more time to rehab. I realize that they might have thought there was a chance he could have come back and played but I still think they had to know deep down that he needed to get the knee fixed. I am glad he looks to be fine now but still that was healing time KG could have gotten to insure that he would have been alot closer to 100% than he is now.

by oneflewover on Oct 17, 2009 7:37 PM EDT reply actions

…and if he came back in the playoffs and we won it all again? Can’t look back, dude. He looks pretty good right now, and the C’s appear to be loaded. Here’s to the 2009-10 NBA Champion Boston Celtics!!!

- JoeB

by joeb on Oct 17, 2009 7:54 PM EDT up reply actions

…But he did’nt come back and we did’nt win. Either way they could and should have handled it better. Thats all I am saying. Heres hopeing they do win it all this season. If not this could be the best team ever not to win it all.

by oneflewover on Oct 17, 2009 8:31 PM EDT reply actions