Here’s the latest word from the Big Shamrock himself.
“Hopefully [I’ll be back] in the next week, they want me back at 100 percent,” Shaq told The Boston Globe during his 39th birthday celebration as the Boston Children’s Museum on Monday. “I tried to run on [my ankle] the other day, and it felt pretty good, but I took a step back, and I am going to get back out there in a few days. I don’t really feel like I’m 39.”
O’Neal hasn’t seen action since Feb. 1, and earlier Monday, Doc Rivers told reporters that he was told by trainer Ed Lacerte not to expect the center back “anytime soon.”
“Dr. [Brian] McKeon is doing a great job, Ed Lacerte is doing a great job,” O’Neal went on to say. “I’ve been working on it, getting treatment. It will be all right.”
Shaq, who has said he would be playing through his sore right foot and Achilles tendon if it were the playoffs, knows how much the Celtics are relying on him to get healthy after trading Perkins to Oklahoma City.
“Perkins has meant a lot to this city, and he really helped them get [NBA championship] No. 17, and we’re going to miss him,” the future Hall of Famer told the Globe. “He was my main man. Everybody loves Perk. I love him. We became real good friends, and I congratulated him on his new deal. But this is a business. He’s going to be missed. We had a great time this year being on the same team.”
