Published 01:43, April the 28th, 2009
Garnett’s knee woes provide a strange saga
What did they know and when did they know it, and who totally messed up where Kevin Garnett is concerned? This has been one of the strangest, most uncovered, most underdiscussed stories in Boston sports. For a region that can fill up the airwaves for hours and hours dissecting a seventh-inning pitching move, why haven’t there been more questions about Garnett’s injury, especially regarding the original diagnosis, his premature return to the lineup and the ensuing plan to get him ready for the playoffs?
The timeline tells us either somebody blew it or lied to us, or that Garnett is an incredibly slow healer. Back on Feb. 20, we were told Garnett had a strained right knee and would be out two to three weeks.
“Rest and ice for KG,” is what Danny Ainge told the Globe. It took four weeks for Garnett to come back, and we were told his minutes would be limited as he played his way back into shape. He played four games, averaging 17 minutes, and then his season was over. Of course, we didn’t know it at the time. We were told he’d get more rest and that holding him back was purely precautionary. The company line seemed to be, “KG is fine, but we want him to be 100 percent for the postseason.”
And remember, even in the final week of the regular season, there was speculation that Garnett might play the final few games, or two of the final three games, but he didn’t. The next thing we were told was that he was probably done for the year.
What happened?
How could he go from needing “two to three weeks” to this? How could he go from maybe playing at the end of the regular season to being out for what could be another month of playoff action? How could he go from being diagnosed with a strain and requiring “rest and ice” to eventually needing surgery?
More questions that come to mind: Did Garnett re-injure himself during those four games in March? Did he overdo it during rehab? Was there a misdiagnosis? Were we lied to from the beginning? Is he not the warrior we think he is?
If injury-prone Red Sox outfielder J.D. Drew missed two months with a strain and then sat on the bench during the playoffs, fans would never let him live it down. And as you watch Alex Rodriguez hustle back in about eight weeks from hip surgery, don’t you wonder: If KG’s knee had gone under the knife back in February, might he be in uniform instead of a fancy suit now?
