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The Boston Celtics released a statement tonight announcing that guard Keith Bogans has been excused indefinitely for personal reasons. The veteran guard has played in only six games this season and will remain under contract.
It's unfair to speculate, but Jessica Camerato of HoopsWorld posted a story on January 2nd, which detailed Bogans' frustration with his lack of playing time. I believe that could be the reason for his absence. Bogans is in his 11th year and has averaged 21.6 minutes per game throughout his career; to go from playing quality backup minutes to almost none must be hard to swallow. Here is an excerpt from Camerato's article:
Celtics’ Bogans Frustrated With Lack of Minutes | HOOPSWORLD
"[I miss] everything," Bogans said. "Everything. Imagine 11 years and just this. … It would not matter [how many minutes] as long as I was on the court playing. It wouldn’t matter. I’ve got more DNPs [this season] than I have in 10 years.""Money is good, but if you’re not happy doing what you love to do… I want to play basketball," Bogans said. In response to whether or not he is happy, Bogans continued, "The fact that I’m not playing, no. But put people in my position and see what would happen. It’s easier said than done. So anybody can say yeah I’m happy, I’m getting money, but come on now."
"It is what it is," Bogans said. "I’ve never been the guy who goes up and starts to complain. That’s not my personality."
Bogans is making over $5 million dollars this season, and could be a nice expiring contract (and bench piece) for a contending team, so it wouldn't surprise me if he was on the move soon.
But, again, it's impossible to speculate about the situation. Something else could be going on and he could be back within a few days or weeks.
What we can derive from this is not a whole lot changes for the Celtics on the court -- since he wasn't playing -- but they do lose a genuinely good person in the locker room. The young guys seem to like Bogans, and there will be a loss there.