Celtics Four-Point Play 9/12

Here’s the second post of a weekly series of the Celtics Four-Point Play to appear every Wednesday morning on Sports of Boston. This is where I will compile four (4) small and related Celtics facts and offer my own spin on a variety of Celtics news stories. The general format will be a short blurb about the story first, then my reaction tabbed underneath it.

1. The Associated Press reported on Monday that Trailblazers No. 1 pick Greg Oden will undergo exploratory arthroscopic knee surgery later this week because of pain in his right knee. Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard said Oden may have some cartilage problems in his knee.

• Before the NBA Draft lottery, I would’ve given anything to land the No. 1 pick. I went so far as to guaranteeing a playoff birth for the 2007-08 season if we could pair Oden with Al Jefferson and a healthy Paul Pierce. I thought the pieces would’ve fallen into place for a 45-win season. Oden was supposed to make us relevant. As fate would have it, we got the worst possible pick (No. 5) and we spun that into Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Now, Oden is having arthroscopic knee surgery? If I were a Blazers fan I’d be flipping out. I can’t imagine if that happened and he was playing in Boston. That would be disastrous for basketball in the city. People would start comparing it to Len Bias (which sounds ridiculous but I guarantee it would be true).

2. Tuesday on Celtics.com, the team released details of a photo shoot in Waltham of the new Big Three: Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce. The shoot was for a few different publications, to appear as cover features in the coming weeks.

• Apparently, seeing is believing. Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett are really here, it’s not a dream. View the photo shoot to catch your first glimpse of Allen and KG in Celtics green. I’ll admit it looked kind of weird at first, but I’m sure I’ll have no problem getting used to the new team and new players.

3. The Globe’s Marc Spears (who is everywhere lately) reports that NBA Commissioner David Stern is happy that the Celtics are relevant in Boston again. A clip from the article:

David Stern is happy that win-thirsty Celtics fans have a potentially stellar team to root for again with the offseason additions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. And the NBA commissioner is also happy for the league, too, in terms of how it could benefit if the Celtics become a power again.

“I’m always asked about New York, Chicago, LA, Boston,” said Stern in a phone interview yesterday. “Some are going to be up and some are going to be down. I really focus more on the fact that the Celtics fans have been very loyal and they deserve the Celtic team that has been put together. I’m happy for them. If it turns out to be competitive, it would be good for the NBA. But in some ways, sometimes in trades, it’s not always a [guarantee of success].

“It will be fun. Boston is a terrific basketball town. With the success of the Red Sox and Patriots, the Celtics have had a lot to contend with. And this will be good for them. It will also be good for the league.”

• David Stern is desperate to get a winner in his major markets. He has one in Chicago, LA, but the Knicks and Celtics need to step their game up in order to bring more revenue to the league. The Celtics look as if they’ve held their end of the bargain, and the Knicks could potentially be good again. Also important is the move of two superstars over to the Eastern Conference. The West currently has three teams (Mavs, Spurs, Suns) that would probably win the Eastern Conference, but the move of Allen and KG to the Celtics helps shift the balance of power a little. A Kobe-to-Bulls trade would just about even everything out.

4. Marc Spears of the Globe (yes, him again) is reporting Kendrick Perkins and his girlfriend have had a baby.

“Celtics center Kendrick Perkins’ longtime girlfriend gave birth to Kendrick Perkins II on Monday. Born in Boston on Monday, the baby was 7 pounds, 9 ounces and 20 inches long.”

• Awww, how cute. Another Boston athlete has a baby out of wedlock (the other being a guy named Tom Brady). I guess it’s cool to know that at 22 you can have a “long-time” girlfriend. Basically, I’m glad Perk had a son (and happier his name is Kendrick too), and I don’t care whether he had it out of wedlock or not. All I care is that he starts grabbing ten rebounds per game this season.

Tags: Celtics, David Stern, Four-Point Play, Greg Oden, Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Garnett, NBA Draft, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen

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