It's a scary question, because if recent history is any indication, this is one incredibly injury-prone group of guys. And conventional wisdom tells you that the older these Celtics get, the harder it will be to keep this team healthy and active.
What are we dealing with here? Let's take a look at the track record of this Celtics team, examining last year alone:
October 27: Glen Davis gets into an altercation with an old high school friend, ends up breaking his thumb, and misses the next two months.
December 24: Paul Pierce comes down with an infection in his right knee. He needs surgery, and he's out for two weeks.
December 30: Kevin Garnett's right knee, the same one that kept him out of the 2009 postseason, starts acting up again. This time it's a hyperextension, and he's done for a solid three weeks.
January 26: Marquis Daniels needs thumb surgery. No kidding! Who knew he was injury prone?
February 1: Pierce misses two games with left foot soreness.
February 15: Pierce has his knee drained.
February 22: Pierce starts battling right thumb soreness and sits out three more games.
March, April, part of May: The Celtics enjoy a stretch of incredibly good health, which to some almost seems to good to be true.
May 26: We find out that it was indeed too good to be true. A flurry of injuries strike the Celtics during Game 5 of the East finals: concussions for Davis and Daniels, a twisted ankle for Tony Allen, Rajon Rondo muscle spasms, Rasheed Wallace back spasms. Somehow, the C's advance to the Finals anyway.
June 15: Kendrick Perkins goes down in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, pulling multiple ligaments in his knee and crippling the Celtics' chances of an 18th NBA championship.
That's about it. There are other, more minor ailments on the laundry list — sore shoulders, feet, hamstrings, a sprained ankle here or there. In short, last season was literally a painful one for everyone on the roster. But is there any reason for us to believe these injury problems are recurring ones? For all we know, this was just one fluky injury-prone season.
Here's what we know for sure:
- Davis learned two lessons this year: One, don't get in fights. Two, when Dwight Howard throws an elbow at your head, you duck.
- Pierce had a thick medical file this season, but come playoff time, he felt better than ever. If he takes care of his body, he can keep it up.
- Garnett has had his share of knee problems, but he sure looked like his old self in May and June.
- Ray Allen keeps in better physical shape than pretty much anyone in the NBA … or elsewhere on planet Earth, for that matter.
- Rondo is a physical freak. He can do no wrong.
- Perk will be missed in Boston, but midway through next season, he will be back and healthy. Patience is a virtue, Celtics fans.
Ultimately, what matters most is getting healthy and staying healthy when the postseason rolls around. The Celtics proved that. They had more than their share of setbacks in December, January and February, but they came through in the clutch and got healthy when it mattered.
Of course, it all fell apart in Game 6 in Los Angeles. Sometimes bad luck strikes at bad times.
There's a lot of randomness in the game. Injuries can strike anyone at any time, and they're hard to predict. But know this: The Celtics are capable of being healthy next spring, just in time to make another run at a championship. From there, they've just got to hope Lady Luck smiles upon them at the right moments.
NESN.com will answer one Celtics question every day in July.
Friday, July 23: Who's the leader of the Celtics in 2010?
Sunday, July 25: Can the Celtics improve their rebounding?
