Boston Celtics suffer another blow as Jermaine O’Neal sidelined for the season – NBA Update
The besieged Boston Celtics suffered yet another setback as it was confirmed that centre Jermaine O’Neal will be out for the season with a wrist injury. The big man had played through pain but now it seems it is the end of the road for his time with Boston,
and perhaps his time in the NBA.
Jermaine took a fall in Boston Celtic’s encounter with the Dallas Mavericks and it aggravated an already existing chronic degenerative wrist condition. What that means is that the centre will have to sit out the season. He will now have to undergo surgery
as the doctors have run out of all other options.
"Jermaine worked hard to get himself in condition to play this season despite his ongoing wrist issues," Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said. "He played through pain the entire year and gave us all he could, but unfortunately after
the fall against Dallas there simply wasn't anything else he could do. We appreciate his contributions to our team over the last two years."
Jermaine joined the franchise back in 2010 on a year 2 year contract. In his time at the franchise he averaged 5.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. He came in at a time when the Celtics were reeling from injuries and old age had slowed down
a once mighty team.
However, the centre was not able to contribute as much as he would have wanted to because of many injury troubles and now it seems that his time at the club would come to an end in a similar way.
The team’s head coach Doc Rivers revealed that he had already been expecting this development for some time now. He said he was very thankful for O’Neal to have put in all the effort that he did, but after a point things were taken out of his hands.
"I assumed that the whole time honestly," Rivers said before Monday's game in Atlanta. "I give him a lot of credit. He did what he needed to do -- I mean he tried.”
His departure from the scene will leave the Celtics even more exposed at the centre position than before. They were not able to recruit a suitable big man in the summer and Chris Wilcox, who had been covering for Jermaine in his absence, was earlier ruled
out for the season with an ailment as well.
With forward Jeff Green forfeiting his season before it even began, O’Neal is the third Celtics player to fall this NBA season, leaving the team down to its bare bones.
This will now mean even more burden for the likes of veterans such as Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce as they try to help the Celtics make it through the season.
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