Shaquille O’Neal to rejoin the Boston Celtics after recovering from injury
Team sources in the Celtics have confirmed that Shaquille O’Neal will be returning to the court soon.
With O’Neal’s off-court antics making the headlines around Boston, basketball aficionados all over the place are awaiting his return to the Celtics parquet floor.
Mike Rotondi, a Celtics fan and season-ticket holder said, "I wish he would stop doing all that stuff off the floor and do it on the floor. That's what we got him for. It makes me crazy. He hasn't played in two months and he missed a bunch of games before
that."
Coach Doc Rivers added, "He's doing something. That's good. For the community part of it, [signing Shaq] has been a huge success. His next step is to be able to do that for us on the floor."
The good news for both Rotondi and Coach Rivers is the recent news that Shaq will return to the Celtics line-up on April 1st. With the playoffs fast approaching, it would give him two weeks to settle back into the Celtics new-look team. Shaq has
missed twenty-two straight games for the Celtics since Feb 1st due to an Achilles tendon problem. He also missed twelve games over the season due to other random injuries.
The Celtics have been careful not to rush the healing process of the 39-year-old Big-man, as Achilles injuries can be slow to heal. Doctors have been arguing it should be classified as Achilles tendinosis and not, Achilles tendinitis because Shaq developed
this condition due to continued over-exertion of the tendon and not inflammation. If indeed it were the case, the recovery process will take time.
With Shaquille O’Neal and Jermaine O’Neal both sidelined due to injury, and Kendrick Perkins traded off to Oklahoma City, the Celtics are currently in need of a reliable big man to handle the scoring and rebounding assignments.
"Listen, there's nothing we can do about this. We would love to have [Shaq] now and we'd love to have [Jermaine O'Neal] now. With the team, it puts you in a bit of a bind." Coach Doc Rivers said.
Now, if the Celtics try to put Shaq back on the court prematurely, before his injury has healed completely they might damage their chances of fielding him in the post-season. Another minor injury could permanently sideline him for the rest of the season.
But the focus is not on just bringing Shaq back, but rather on keeping him playing there.
"It will come. I really believe it," Rivers said.
As the Celtics face stiff resistance from the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat in the battle for the Eastern Conference’s top seed, they need the most dominant centre of this era back in their line-up. There are twelve games left in the season and the Celts
need to win these final games to lock home-court advantage in the east.
With both Chicago and Miami on their away schedule in April, the Celts are hoping Shaq’s return will give them the advantage against these elite eastern teams, and solidify their chances of another Championship.
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