Jermaine O'Neal, the Celtics new (temporary) starting center, met today with the media. Among the topics discussed, an ankle injury he suffered late in the season:
O'Neal said he got kicked in the left ankle with three games left in
the regular season but played in the playoffs despite being injured."To
me, when you suit up and you go out there, you're telling your team and
your followers that you're ready to play," he said. "Whatever excuses
you have should be kept in the locker room. So I chose not to talk about
it, because it didn't really matter. I still felt like I could go out
there and help the team, and unfortunately, I couldn't do it."Ainge
said the sprained ankle showed up during O'Neal's physical on
Wednesday."He had a little bit of a sprain and that showed up in
the testing," Ainge said. "We checked him out thoroughly. We're not
concerned about him, except in the way we're concerned about any
player."
O'Neal also had a chance to resign with the Heat, but decided Boston – thanks to some kinds words from Rasheed Wallace – was a better fit.
"I knew what [the Heat] were trying to do, and I could have re-signed
back with those guys," he said Wednesday after passing his physical with
the Celtics. "But it comes down to fit. It comes down to personalities
and style of play, and I thought Boston has all that for me. It came
down to winning now, and not worrying about chemistry.""[Wallace] had a lot of great things to say about the organization,"
O'Neal said. "That was kind of the selling point too — him coming in
and him actually being here for a year and understanding the situation,
the scenario, the chemistry."I shot him a text and I told him to
come back. He didn't respond."
The Celtics interior defense will suffer without Perkins. But I really like the dimension O'Neal brings on offense. He's got a smooth stroke and will be another option when Rajon Rondo penetrates into the lane and draws defenders.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
