I hate this picture, with all my heart.

Kendrick Perkins, who tore his ACL only about twelve years ago, finally had surgery yesterday. The surgery was deemed successful. (ESPN Boston)

Celtics center Kendrick Perkins underwent successful surgery Monday to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

According to the team, Perkins officially underwent arthroscopic knee ligament reconstruction with meniscal repair at the New England Baptist Hospital in Boston.

Surgery was performed by team physician Dr. Brian McKeon and assisted by Dr. John Richmond and Jason Rand, PAC.

The Celtics did not disclose a timetable for his return, but Perkins suggested he would be sidelined for five to six months after the procedure, which would peg his return at sometime in January or February of 2011.

Anyone else not convinced Perk will be back so quickly? Five to six months for an ACL tear? What does he expect to do, come back on crutches?

Forsberg tweeted the following: “From everything I’ve read, the ACL/meniscus combo is not uncommon and has high success rate. Most estimates say 6-9 mos. recovery. Ainge said February and I’d say post All-Star break is still optimistic. There’s no need to rush him, C’s need him healthy in mid-April.”

Let’s just hope Perk is a faster healer than he is a runner. If he comes back in mid-April, which would be the end of that 6-9 month time frame, he probably won’t have much of an impact whatsoever on next season. It’s not like he’s going to come back in perfect shape.