:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/10595869/20130324_kkt_an4_930.0.jpg)
The thought has crossed just about everyone's mind. Kevin Garnett has a semi-mysterious injury to his leg late in the season and we've been given a vague, non-committal (and sometimes contradictory) timeline for his return. Sounds a lot like 2009 to me.
We can hope that this is different, but few of us are doctors and a very limited amount of doctors have access to Garnett's actual medical records. So the best we can rely on is the word of the Celtics brain trust. You know, the same ones that later admitted in 2009 that they were being a little "Belichickian" with their evasiveness in the final weeks of the season.
With that said, I'm not sure that Doc and Danny have any real motivation to sell us anything but the truth. So I'm pretty much fine taking their word for it when they say that (as far as they know) he'll be back in a few weeks time. Injuries are funny things and they don't always work the same way for everyone. So we'll just have to wait and see.
Anyway, here's a sampling of what Danny had to say about comparing this year to 2009.
Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Thursday that Kevin Garnett is still dealing with the inflammation in his left foot that has caused him to miss the past three games, but that the original estimated two-week absence should be "more than sufficient time" for the injury to heal.
Green Street " Danny Ainge talks about win over Cavs, health of KG and ‘paying the price’
The difference between 2009 and today is Kevin needed surgery in 2009. It was inevitable. And … but the thought was that if he had surgery, he was done for the year. Or can he play til the end of the year and then get surgery at the end of the year. And there was hope that that could happen. That he would be able to play. And it was just inevitable — surgery. And he wasn’t going to damage it any more. It was just a chip or a fragment behind his knee that needed to be removed. And so right now, that’s not the case with KG. I don’t think surgery is inevitable or we need to get through the year and he’ll go in for surgery right after the year.
There's a lot more to that interview but you'll just have to check the links for the rest.
So he doesn't need surgery and he's just taking some time for the inflamation to go down and to heal up any other various bumps and bruises he's picked up along the way. Fine with me really. We absolutely need him for the playoffs and we need him as close to 100% as his body will allow. So take all the time you need Kevin.
Bonus link: Ainge quick hits: Little room for error - Boston Celtics Blog - ESPN Boston