Danny Ainge played basketball, so he understands the passion that goes into the game. He's also worked with Kevin Garnett since 2007, and knows that he wouldn't call anyone a "cancer patient."
During his weekly call-in to WEEI, Ainge called Charlie Villanueva's Twitter accusations of Kevin Garnett "ludicrous," and said Villanueva's tweet was an act of "self promotion."
"There's one thing that I know for sure, and it's that KG would not offend cancer patients," Ainge said. "That makes no sense. It makes no sense on a lot of fronts. Not only is he experiencing it in his own family, but that's just not something I've ever heard — in 30 years — ever say, in trash talking. What is logical in a trash talking situation for a player to say to another player, 'You have cancer' or 'You are cancer'?"
Ainge isn't the only person who backs the animated power forward. Celtics head coach Doc Rivers spoke in defense of Garnett before Wednesday's game against the Bucks, saying he was standing right next to Garnett when the "cancerous" remark occurred.
"I actually heard what Kevin said. I was standing right there, and what he released was what he said," Rivers said. "The tweeting thing doesn't bother me, it's what we're tweeting about and when. I couldn't imagine someone going to the press after a game because someone said something to you on the floor. That's an unwritten rule I thought we didn't cross and we did that the other night."
Should the NBA come in and investigate the situation, Ainge said he's prepared to back Garnett through and through, but he's not expecting the league to get involved.
"Both players have completely different stories," he said. "One guy has a Twitter account where he blurts things out, that's the first thing. Doc said he heard what KG said and I believe Doc. Doc isn't going to say that if it's not true. I believe Doc and I believe KG."
