ESPN

Here's your obligatory Rajon Rondo rehab update for the day (via his Twitter account):

It's goin.RT @w_thimas14: @RajonRondo hows ur day going? pic.twitter.com/J8Kn527IBI

— Rajon Rondo (@RajonRondo) September 27, 2013

Rondo noted that the acupuncture pins help release spasm and reduce pain.

Boston Celtics forward Brandon Bass will join children from the Boys & Girls Club of Boston for a swim class on Friday to promote awareness of water safety and the importance of learning how to swim. These sort of offseason community events are not atypical, but here's what makes this one unique: 28-year-old Bass is learning to swim himself. From the Boston Globe:

Heading into his third season as a member of the Boston Celtics, Brandon Bass is in top physical shape. At 6-foot-8 and 260 pounds, he is nothing but muscle and can shoot, block, rebound, and steal the ball with the best of them. But there’s one thing that 6-year-old Brandon Bass Jr. can beat his daddy at: swimming.

“My son’s the first one in the family to learn how to swim,” says Bass, a 28-year-old Celtics forward. “If you threw me out in the ocean, I would drown.”

But Bass is getting ready to change that. On Friday, he will get into the Boston Sports Club swimming pool in Waltham, the shallow end, with 10 children from the Boys & Girls Club of Boston. Together, Bass and the children will take their first swimming lesson. He will continue lessons with them for as long as his Celtics schedule permits, and when it does not, he says he will take private lessons until he learns to swim.

Though he is volunteering his time to help children conquer their fear of swimming, Bass has fears of his own. “I’m nervous, because I don’t know how to float,” he says. “I can’t tread water.”

Hop HERE to check out the full story.

BOSTON -- Brad Stevens has a big challenge moving to the NBA as coach of the Boston Celtics. Massachusetts college coaches, though, are optimistic he can make the jump from Butler.

And he might even start a trend, one of those coaches says.

"I think he'll do well and it probably will open some doors," Holy Cross coach Milan Brown said Thursday. "It'll make some general managers and presidents go, `Who's the next Brad?"

Brown was one of seven Division I coaches at an event Thursday promoting a tripleheader involving six of those teams on Nov. 10 at TD Garden in Boston. Stevens, hired in early July after Doc Rivers left to become coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, also attended.

Stevens, 36, downplayed his transition to the NBA and what it could mean for college coaches seeking to move to the pros.

"To me, coaching's coaching," he said. "I think that, at the end of the day, it's about going into a situation and working with the right people and trying to figure out ways to be successful. I'm certainly not going to put any pressure on myself to be (a pioneer)."

Butler made it to the NCAA championship game twice under Stevens, who led them to a 116-49 record in six seasons. The Celtics signed him to a six-year deal worth a reported $22 million that made him the youngest coach in the NBA.

Other college coaches at Thursday's event were confident he could make the transition, especially with a young rebuilding team that traded Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Brooklyn Nets in the offseason.

"There certainly will be a lot of eyes and attention focused on him and his success. The college game is excited for him, proud of him and know that he's going to do an outstanding job," Harvard's Tommy Amaker said. "There are very few college guys that are going to go take over the Miami Heat, when he has the opportunity to go win an NBA championship.

"Obviously, Brad is in a situation here where it appears to be a rebuilding job."

So expectations are low, giving Stevens' players time to adapt to his system and personality without pressure of instant success.

"I'm interested, like everyone else, in that I'm wondering if it can work at that level," Boston College coach Steve Donahue said, "because, if it does, it reinforces everything you think is good about basketball, building a team and doing it a certain way. Brad does that. I think we would all say that he's got everybody rooting for him."

Massachusetts coach Derek Kellogg said coaching the Celtics "is a challenge" for Stevens. "But I do believe that college coaches, at least the good ones that respect what he's done, would be happy to see him do well."

Two circles join together to form the digit "8" that Jeff Green wears on the back of his Boston Celtics jersey. But the way Courtney Lee sees it, those circles have multiplied and nested this offseason, taking on a different appearance.

"The target is on Jeff's back," said Lee. "Last year, we had [Kevin Garnett], Paul [Pierce] and you knew those guys were going to be the go-to guys. And you had [Rajon] Rondo who was going to make the play. Jeff is that guy that came along and just showed everybody what he's capable of doing. Now, I think everybody in the NBA knows that now, so he's going to have a big target on his back."

And, unlike last season, there's no Garnett or Pierce -- both off to Brooklyn as part of Boston's roster overhaul this summer. At the start of the season, there's unlikely to be any Rondo, either, as he completes his rehab from ACL surgery in February.

No, it's just the much-scrutinized Green leading a young Celtics team and trying to prove that his late-season emergence last season wasn't an aberration.

"Talking with him, I think he's up for that challenge," said Lee.

By now you know the story with Green: For his first 5½ seasons in the league, his per-36 numbers were staggeringly static, to the point where his very vocal pundits wondered if there was another level to his game. His critics dubbed him a complementary player, the sort who excelled only when he had the likes of Kevin Durant or Pierce ahead of him on the depth chart.

After being somewhat unremarkable for the first half of his first season back from heart surgery, Green found another gear and finished the 2012-13 season with a flourish.

There was a March outburst highlighted by a big effort against the Heat; a couple of game winners in Indy and Cleveland (the latter in front of his heart surgeon, no less); and then an excellent playoff showing against the Knicks in which he shouldered much of Boston's offensive load (leading the team at 20.3 points per game).

The debate this summer has hinged on whether Green is capable now of stepping into a starring role for new-look Boston, or if that late-season glimpse was simply a career outlier.

(Read full post)

The Boston Celtics and 98.5 the Sports Hub have finalized an agreement on a multi-year partnership for the team's radio broadcasts.

The station said it plans to broadcast select preseason games, along with all regular-season (and future postseason) matchups with extended pre- and postgame shows.

The broadcast tandem of Sean Grande and Cedric Maxwell, who previously called the games for WEEI, will remain intact on 98.5.

“We are excited to launch a new era of Celtics basketball with CBS radio Boston, extending our audience reach with Celtics fans throughout New England and providing an enhanced promotional platform for the Celtics, our team sponsors, and advertisers,” Celtics team president Rich Gotham said in an official release from the station. “In addition to enjoying the NBA’s best play by play with Grande and Max, Celtics fans will also have the opportunity to hear directly from Celtics executives, players, and coaches through interviews and features throughout the season.”

According to the team's release, additional Celtics daily and weekly programming will be featured on the Sports Hub throughout the season. The Sports Hub also broadcast Bruins games and, during overlaps in coverage, Celtics games will be shifted to 100.7 WZLX.

WEEI announced in late August it would no longer carry the Celtics' radio broadcasts. A deal with 98.5 has long been rumored. Boston's first exhibition game is Oct. 7, while the regular-season opens in Toronto on Oct. 30.

Oh sure, it might be a transition year (though don't tell that to Boston's returning veterans), but Jeff Green found a way to keep the Celtics-Heat rivalry flickering. From Wicked Local Beverly:

For Beverly resident Nathan Barry, it was an offer he couldn’t refuse: An autographed game-worn sneaker from Boston Celtic Jeff Green, in exchange for all of his Miami Heat gear -- starting with the cap he was currently wearing.

It was a tempting trade for the youngster, who stood face-to-kneecap with his towering 6-foot-9, 235-pound basketball hero.

“I have to make sure you get rid of this hat,” said Green, going over the finer points of the swap. “And you’re going to have to mail all your Miami stuff back to me. I will then dispose of it. Is it a deal?”

It was a no-brain decision for Barry, a third grader at the Centerville School. The tyke even shook on the deal, swearing off all of his Heat regalia for the entire season, before hurling his red cap into the trash can.

Check out a photo of Barry trashing the hat, HERE.

(h/t: Red's Army)

BOSTON -- Though the majority of the subject matter at the breakfast meeting was his old arena, college hoops, new Celtics coach Brad Stevens wasn’t getting away Thursday morning without addressing the issue that’s first and foremost on many Celtics fans’ minds as training camp approaches.

Where is Rajon Rondo in his rehab from ACL surgery?

“You really didn’t think I was gonna let this get done without asking,” ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, the event emcee, joked with Stevens. “I’m not just gonna ask how’s he's doing, but where is he at with his rehab right now?”

After first thanking the audience for attending the event, the second annual Coaches vs. Cancer Tip-Off Breakfast to raise money for the Coaches vs. Cancer program, Stevens obliged.

“Rondo is progressing well,” he said in the Legends suite at TD Garden. “He’s in the gym, he’s working. He’s been great at what he can do. He has not been cleared to do everything, and it looks like that'll be a little bit of time before he is.

“Has the date been determined? No. Does it look like he’ll be there at the start of the season? No. But he is in the gym and when he is in the gym, people are that much better because I think he’s just got a way about him that makes everyone else rise up. And that’s been a really important thing for us and he’s been great so far.”

Coaches vs. Cancer is a joint program between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches, aimed at utilizing the platform of college basketball to increase awareness of cancer, to raise money for research and to promote healthy living.

All seven Division I coaches from Massachusetts -- Boston College’s Steve Donahue, Boston University’s Joe Jones, Harvard’s Tommy Amaker, Holy Cross’ Milan Brown, Northeastern’s Bill Coen, UMass-Amherst’s Derek Kellogg and UMass-Lowell’s Pat Duquette -- took part in this year’s event.

The wide-ranging question-and-answer session led by Goodman touched on many issues facing college hoops, including an earlier start to practice for most teams this season (the Ivy League excluded), the effects of football-driven realignment on hoops leagues, the challenges of recruiting and what exactly goes into building a college basketball schedule.

---

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

It's not much, but having been mum most of the summer about his rehab from ACL surgery, Rajon Rondo offered a tiny update during a Twitter Q&A with his followers on Wednesday night:

Rehab is going really well. Getting better each week. “@Jim_Isnardi: How's the rehab going?”

— Rajon Rondo (@RajonRondo) September 26, 2013

On Tuesday, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said that he would be "shocked" if Rondo was ready for opening night and suggested a possible December return for the All-Star point guard. Rondo is back in Boston now to continue his rehab. The Celtics open training camp next week in Newport, R.I.

Seven Celtics players joined students from the Holland Elementary School in Dorchester for a Read to Achieve event Wednesday that included a Duck Tour around the city. Kris Humphries, Kelly Olynyk, Jordan Crawford, Phil Pressey, Chris Babb, Damen Bell-Holter, and Kammron Taylor read Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings while touring some of the city's most notable sites.

(Read full post)

MILTON, Mass. -- Back in July, when the Boston Celtics formally introduced the players acquired from the Brooklyn Nets as part of this summer’s nine-player blockbuster swap, small forward Gerald Wallace was absent, excused from the press conference to attend the start of his youth basketball camp in his native Alabama.

Seventy-three days later, with training camp less than a week away, the former All-Star still hasn’t made an appearance at his new basketball home. So when a reporter noted to Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge on Tuesday that Wallace remains an intriguing figure because he hasn’t spoken to the media, Ainge smiled and offered, “I’m right there with you. I’m anxious to meet Gerald.”

The two crossed paths briefly a lifetime ago, when Wallace was a fresh-faced rookie in Sacramento and Ainge was doing TV work. Now, Ainge is presiding over his second Boston rebuild and 31-year-old Wallace is the heftiest contract on his books (three years, $30.3 million).

“I haven’t had much conversation with him. He’s really the only one,” said Ainge. “He’ll be in town, I think, next week.”

The Celtics open camp in Newport, R.I. on Oct. 1. Media day, when all players are typically available to reporters, is one day earlier at the team’s training facility in Waltham.

Now, don’t misconstrue. This doesn’t appear to be any sort of holdout situation. Ainge said it’s often difficult to track down players in the offseason, particularly veterans, noting, “It’s a nightmare trying to get ahold of the players in the summertime. I was the same way when I was a player.”

But with just about everyone else on Boston’s roster dropping by the team’s practice facility in recent weeks and others returning early for informal workouts, Ainge is most certainly eager to sit down with a player that’s due to earn $10.1 million next season.

It’s not an understatement to say that the speed at which the Celtics will navigate this rebuild/transition process hinges a great deal on Wallace. Boston needs him to play well, regardless of whether he spends three years here or not.

(Read full post)

MILTON, Mass. -- Boston Celtics rookie Kelly Olynyk showed up to the Shamrock Foundation’s sixth annual Teeing Up for Kids golf tournament on Tuesday at Wollaston Golf Club with a fresh gash on his chin. When a reporter asked if someone had caught him with an elbow during the team’s informal workouts, Jeff Green playfully interjected, “He wasn’t following the rules; I had to let him know.”

Olynyk smiled and went along with it: “You gotta put rookies in their place sometimes.”

With training camp set to open next Tuesday in Newport, R.I., the intensity of Boston’s pickup games evidently are ramping up. And despite being on the wrong end of that physicality, Olynyk offered, “It’s nice to see. A little more physical, guys are competing real hard, and that’s what it’s all about.”

There’s a palpable energy among Celtics players and it’s clear they are eager to dive into the new season. After a roster overhaul this summer, there are position battles looming and roles to be determined (both on and off the court).

Said Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, “I like the competitiveness [Boston will have] in camp. I’m also very excited about the team because I just think there’s so many questions to be answered and so many unknowns of what’s going to happen, who’s going to step up?”

Read on for a gathering of notes after a handful of Celtics players invaded the golf tournament on Tuesday afternoon, including Courtney Lee's renewed confidence and Jordan Crawford's competitiveness.

(Read full post)

MILTON, Mass. -- Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge chose his words carefully while addressing the domestic assault charges against second-year forward Jared Sullinger, but offered staunch support for the player.

The 21-year-old Sullinger is charged with assault and battery, destruction of property, and witness intimidation in connection with an Aug. 31 confrontation with his girlfriend. The woman accused Sullinger of pinning her to a bed and the floor at his Waltham home. Sullinger appeared in Waltham District Court on Monday for a pretrial hearing and is scheduled to return for a second pretrial session on Oct. 28.

Prosecutors said they intend to pursue domestic assault charges against Sullinger even though his accuser wants to drop the case.

"Jared will be in training camp, he’s in our facility working out everyday," said Ainge. "I think he’s taking care of everything in the exact right way that he should. I think Jared is a good kid. And he’s a good Celtic. And he’s a guy that we have big hopes for. We don’t think he’s done anything so wrong that he shouldn’t be part of our team today."

Ainge was mum on potential punishment, preferring to wait until the judicial process plays out. Ainge said he didn't think the situation would be a distraction for Sullinger entering the 2013-14 season.

"I don’t think it would be a distraction for Jared now, just because he knows the story. He knows, and someday you guys will," said Ainge. "But just because of the legal proceedings, it can’t be publicized and he can’t talk about it. I think he’s comfortable with where he is and what he needs to work on, and who he needs to apologize to."

Sullinger is due back in court two days before the start of the 2013-14 regular season. The Celtics visit the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 30.

Read on for more news and notes from the Shamrock Foundation's sixth annual Teeing Up for Kids Golf Tournament on Tuesday at Wollaston Golf Club.

(Read full post)

MILTON, Mass. -- The Boston Celtics have until Oct. 31 to work out a contract extension with 2010 first-round pick Avery Bradley, but president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Tuesday that nothing is imminent and that the sides will likely wait until after the season to revisit.

"We may talk in October, but most likely next summer," said Ainge.

In recent weeks, John Wall, Larry Sanders, Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins have all worked out extensions ahead of the Halloween buzzer. Bradley, the 19th overall pick in 2010, is set to earn $2.5 million in the fourth year of his rookie pact, but would be a restricted free agent if Boston extends a $3.6 million qualifying offer. That could put Boston at risk of having a deep-pocketed bidder steal away their defensive ace.

The Celtics must decide if Bradley is a player they envision building around -- and at what price. Ainge hinted that this season is important for Bradley to show how he blends in new coach Brad Stevens' system and pairs in the backcourt with Rajon Rondo. At the start of the 2013-14 campaign, it's likely that Bradley will serve as point guard while Rondo rehabs from ACL surgery, but Stevens offered high praise for Bradley.

"Avery is a guy I really believe in," said Stevens. "I think Avery has a lot of opportunity to be a very, very good player on both ends of the floor. I don’t know exactly how we’ll progress from here, as far as that goes with regard to if Rajon is in, who’s in what role, but I know Avery will be on the court. I think he’s a guy that, when you look at him on both ends of the floor, he’s a guy that I think we can fit in well offensively at the point guard spot. I think he’s really excited about playing it. And then, defensively, he can be elite. And so you’ve got one whole end of the floor where you’ve got an elite guy at the position and you’ve got to best figure out how to put him in a position to be successful."

Ainge said he recently trekked to Bradley's native Tacoma to attend the funeral for his mother, Alicia, who passed away at the age of 46 earlier this month. While noting that Bradley, "seems to be doing better" emotionally, Ainge also noted that Bradley and his girlfriend welcomed their first child, Avery Bradley III, on Tuesday morning. Said Ainge: "So AB3 we’ll call him. And everybody’s doing well from what I’ve heard."

MILTON, Mass. -- Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said he'd be "shocked" if Rajon Rondo was ready for the start of the regular season in late October and hinted that an early December return is more likely for the All-Star point guard.

Rondo underwent surgery in mid-February to repair a partially torn ACL. While the team initially set an aggressive timeline in hopes of having him ready for opening night, Ainge hesitated to offer any firm return date and said the team will now take it slow with Rondo.

"We’ve just seen examples of why we shouldn’t give dates of expected return," said Ainge, likely with a nod toward two recent high-profile ACL rehabs in Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III and Derrick Rose. "We’ll just take it week by week and he’ll continue to get evaluated, but he’s working extremely hard, and he wants to play. He’s excited for the new team. I think there was a time when all of [Boston's offeseason moves were] happening that he was sort of wondering, ‘Where do I fit in here?’ ‘What’s our team?’ But I think Rajon is in a very good place right now."

During an appearance on Boston sports radio 98.5 the SportsHub before the Shamrock Foundation's sixth annual Teeing up For Kids Golf Tournament at Wollaston Golf Club, Ainge guessed an early December return for Rondo, but stressed later that there is no firm timeline.

"I don’t think we would ever succumb to the pressure of bringing back a player from an ACL too soon," said Ainge. "We’ve got to do what’s right for him. He’s young -- maybe if he was 37 and it was his last year, but he’s still so young. And he’s our best player. We can’t afford to make any mistakes and judgment on when to bring him back."

Pressed on if Rondo could be back for opening night, Ainge offered, "I would be shocked."

(Read full post)

Boston Celtics forward Jared Sullinger appeared in Waltham District Court on Monday for a pretrial hearing and is due back for a second pretrial session on Oct. 28, according to media reports.

Sullinger pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and battery, malicious destruction of property and witness intimidation on Sept. 3 and was released on $5,000 bail. He was arrested after an alleged altercation with his live-in girlfriend at his Waltham residence on Aug. 31.

According to reports, Sullinger's lawyer Charles Rankin noted that Sullinger has abided by the court's initial ruling that he only have contact with his girlfriend with a third party present. His girlfriend's lawyer has filed an affidavit with the court stating that her client “did not want to pursue the case and is not fearful of Mr. Sullinger."

Asked about his client, Rankin told reporters at the courthouse, "He's doing fine. He’s embarrassed but doing fine, and hoping it comes to an end soon," according to MassLive.com.

Sullinger is due back in court two days before the start of the 2013-14 regular season. The Celtics visit the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 30.

(Read full post)