David Aldridge: “Perkins’ Health is Crucial”

Making his return to his weekly column on NBA.com, "The Morning Tip," columnist David Aldridge compiled a list of a "Talented Ten" players whose health "are crucial to their respective teams' chances of success." Obviously he chose Rajon Rondo, right?  Wrong.  It must have been Kevin Garnett or Paul Pierce then?  His choice is none other than big man Kendrick Perkins, and here's why:

5) Kendrick Perkins, Celtics
• INJURY:Torn right ACL, partial tear MCL, PCL (6/15/10)
• PROGNOSIS:Out until midseason at earliest

Boston didn't bring Shaquille O'Neal aboard because it felt confident that Perkins would come back quickly from the bad knee injury he suffered in the opening minutes of Game 6 of the Finals against the Lakers. The Celtics have all-too-familiar experience with knee injuries suffered by big men in recent years, having lost Kevin Garnett for the playoffs in '09 and Leon Powe early in that postseason, too. Perkins underwent successful surgery in July but will be a spectator until at least the All-Star break, and even then, the likelihood he'll make much of a contribution this season is small.

The most interesting thing about this is that Aldridge states that Perkins had a "partial MCL and PCL tear" to go along with the torn ACL.  When it was first reported during the Finals, there was a lot of confusion but Perkins himself has said that it was only the ACL.  Either way, it's refreshing to see how respected Perk is amongst real NBA writers, in comparison to what Andy Gresh said recently.