Our friends at CelticsBlog caught up with Jeff Green recently to discuss the struggles of having to sit out last season and what lies ahead in his return to the court:

"The first couple hours were just full of disappointment and feeling like I had let people down. With the lockout ending and finally being ready to play, I just felt like I let a lot of people down," said Green as he dwelled on the immediate moments after hearing the news from team doctors.

Basketball was done. Green was out for an entire year, and he had to prepare for a year of rehabilitation and recovery in order to return to the court in 2012. He had surgery in January, and the weeks and months that followed would be harder than receiving the news of his ailment.

"The surgery itself was probably the hardest thing I've ever been through in my life. I had to start from, basically, double scratch. Walking was an issue -- just being able to have the stamina was a problem. Everything just kind of shuts down. The nervous system breaks down, and it's kinda like a jump-start. You have to get it going, and it was just difficult.

"You take for granted all of the little things -- whether it's just an easy crunch or ab exercise, or moving to the left or moving to the right. I couldn't lay on my stomach for the first two-and-a-half months. I couldn't lay on my side. The first couple of weeks I couldn't drive. I couldn't do a lot of things, but it helps you appreciate the little things."

Later, Green discusses how he had to stop watching basketball for a while, noting, "It was very hard. I stopped watching basketball, not just the Celtics, for a month and a half. It was frustrating to me that I couldn't be out there playing."

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