The Celtics announced today that Jermaine O'Neal underwent successful surgery on his injured left wrist. And as A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com tweets, all went well with Chris Wilcox's heart surgery yesterday too. Wilcox was waived by the Celtics earlier this month, and Boston could choose to let O'Neal go as well if the team needs to use his roster spot. For now though, the Celtics don't appear to be eyeing any free agents.
Here are a few more Friday afternoon updates out of the Atlantic Division:
- Celtics big man Kevin Garnett appeared on WEEI's Mutt and Merloni show yesterday, and made some interesting comments, as Rich Levine of CSNNE.com writes. "I never wanted to be pieced around, or treated like a pawn, or a piece on the board," Garnett said. "Loyalty in this game has been depleted on both sides. The business of this game is terrible for players. It's all over the place. I have to choose and make a decision to whether to be part of the future of that. I wish players would take more of a stand in our league and understand that it's a player's league." Reading between the lines, Levine surmises that Garnett may have been referring to the lockout, the trade deadline, or both.
- The NBA's D-League has turned into more of a true minor league system and is helping players reach the NBA, writes Jorge Castillo of the Star-Ledger. Castillo's piece is an interesting read, with a focus on the Nets' D-League call-ups, including Gerald Green and Jerry Smith.
- The Knicks' offseason addition of Baron Davis fell under the radar following Jeremy Lin's emergence, but Lin's injury has given Davis a chance to re-enter the spotlight, says Keith Schlosser of the New York Times.