The latest update on Kevin Garnett is that the team has convinced him to put off surgery because there's a small chance that he might still be able to come back. Bulpett reports:
What has changed is Garnett's surgery timetable. He now agrees with the team and will wait until every possible avenue to get him back in these playoffs has been exhausted.
"He's not going to do it right now," Rivers said of the procedure. "He was looking and searching for it and then he just decided to wait."
While the level of hope that Garnett might play again this season appears to have moved more often than a weather vane on the coast, Rivers insists that’s not the case.
“All I’m saying is that we’re still looking at this the same way we did last week,” he said. “But if he can come back, then we’d obviously take that. I still don’t think he can, but why would you ever want to take away that possibility?”
I'll make a very large, very important disclaimer here - I have no more information than I've passed along to you on this blog and I have no skill or insight in the world of medical issues.
With that said, a very large part of me wants KG to get the surgery done now. I'm fine with the fact that they waited till the playoffs to see if it would be good to go. But now that we know he'll need more time, it would seem wiser to just shut him down, get him fixed up, and pray that he'll be good to go for next year and beyond.
The stated reason for holding off is because there's still a small chance he could make it back and help us win. Ok fine. But isn't there a chance that he could come back and make the injury much, much worse? Or injure something else because he's overcompensating too much? Again, I'm no expert, but I have to wonder if Leon's latest injury has something to do with pushing to get back for the playoffs. Now he's on the shelf for 6 - 8 months.
I guess the real message I want to get across here is that this whole business makes me very, very nervous. I understand as well as anyone that our window of opportunity is very small, and you take any chance you've got at a title. But weighing the odds, with what information I have, I'd rather just close the book on KG this year and go the rest of the way without him.
I suppose part of it is psychological. I've already come to terms with the possibility of losing him for this year's playoffs. The constant updates and hints at leaving the door cracked open are driving me bonkers. It is like breaking up with someone who strings you along because they don't want to hurt your feelings; but in the end you just get more twisted up and drained than if you just cut things off.
Anyway, here's hoping that the team and Kevin and all the medical people involved are making the best decisions for Kevin and the team (in that order). That's about all we can do right now.
(p.s. Isn't it sad that three straight posts this morning had everything to do with injuries and very little to do with basketball? That's our 2009 Celtics!)