Welcome to Boston Celtics Media Day!

The Boston Celtics last played five and a half months ago.  We had the draft, a few minor trades, a lot of Rondo speculation, and no fireworks to speak of.  But here we are once again, on the eve of training camp starting.  The wait is over and basketball is back.

This is always a fun day because the media gets plenty of access to the players which means lots of stories which means plenty to talk about.  After going through a long couple of months digging and searching for any nugget I can find, now we have a fire hose of stories to read and react to.  This is kind of like Christmas to bloggers and diehard fans alike.

Hope springs eternal on Media Day, so get used to hearing defiant players talk about the playoffs.  Be ready for the media to pepper Rajon Rondo with questions about his broken hand, trade rumors, and his leadership position on the team.

We also get some of our first glimpses of the new guys.  Evan Turner should be signed sometime today and I'd expect to see him in uniform taking pictures with the rest of the team.  We'll see Zeller, Thornton, the rookies and a few other new faces as well.  It will take a few days to get used to seeing some of the non-guaranteed camp-invites (typically I feel like I'm getting a feel for their game just about the time they are being cut at the end of camp).

We'll also welcome back some familiar faces and check in on other injuries.  Vitor Faverani is returning from knee surgery and expects to be disciplined for his drunk driving arrest over the summer.  We'll have to see if anyone else walks into camp with a limp.

Then there's always the weight watch.  Who is in "the best shape of their lives?"  How many will claim they've lost 15 lbs.?  How many will say they added 15 lbs. of muscle?

It could also be fun to play a rousing game of Coach Lingo Bingo.  How many times will Brad Stevens say "excited" or "process" or the phrase "I'm not really as much of an analytics guy as people make it sound" (and then quote 3 metrics verbatim off the top of his head)?

The wait is over folks.  The summer is done and gone and Boston Celtics basketball is back!