December 22, 2010. Mark this date down on your calendars, folks.

It’s the first time Kevin Garnett’s desire has ever been questioned. His manhood has been questioned at times, when people say he picks on European players and weaklings. But never his desire, until now.

Okay, so it wasn’t questioned too fiercely. But Kendrick Perkins (somewhat) called KG out when discussing the timetable for his own injury. (Boston Herald)

‘It was two different surgeries, two different guys,’ Perkins, who had the more radical surgery, said of Garnett. ‘Believe it or not, me and KG are mentally different. KG had to take his time getting back, and I’m a guy who will push to get back quicker. It’s the difference between me and him.’”

Is this comment important enough to respond to? Maybe, maybe not. But we always hear about KG’s never-stop-for-anything mentality. We hear that he eats small children, once killed a baby goat with his bare hands, and eats sandpaper for breakfast every morning.  After all the stories of KG’s unrivaled desire (and seeing it in person as he slams his head against the basket stanchion, or crawls on all fours, or claps in an opponent’s face), we figured he returned as quickly as possible from his injury. Not for a second did we ever consider the possibility he actually took his time coming back.

Until Kendrick Perkins aired the possibility. I’ll repeat Perk’s comments, just because it’s still jarring to hear KG might have taken his time coming back.

 ”KG had to take his time getting back, and I’m a guy who will push to get back quicker,” Perk said. “It’s the difference between me and him.”

I always thought the difference between the two players was that KG possesses an infinitely more complete offensive repertoire, and far more mobility, and that KG’s face isn’t permanently stuck in a scowl. But are we really supposed to add to those differences, “Perk returns from injuries as quickly as possible, while KG takes his time”?

I’m still not ready to do that, regardless of what Perk said. KG’s injury was supposed to take a full year to recover from – and a full year after his surgery, KG was back to being KG. There was never a time when it seemed KG was spending anything less than every morsel of energy he possesses to return to full mobility. He dragged his leg behind him for much of last season, but KG never stopped busting his ass to come back strong. From where I was sitting, at least, that’s how it seemed. And when it comes to matters of KG and heart, I’m always going to lean toward “KG has more of it than any other basketball player I’ve ever seen.” He’s earned the benefit of the doubt.

So take Perk’s words with a grain of salt, and remember he probably didn’t even mean what came out of his mouth. But also keep in mind — Perk is the most candid Celtic, one of the most open and honest interviews in the entire NBA. If KG really had slacked (and I still don’t think he did), Perk would probably be the first one to call him out.

Maybe he already did call him out. Or maybe he’s just saying, “Guys, I’ve even worked harder than KG. Do you know how tough it is to work THAT hard? Do you see me? I’m more cut up than ever before! I’m working out like an animal, every day, and I’m going to come back better than ever.”

Really, I don’t know. Actually, my brain hurts. But spending this much time pondering trivial matters is what I do.

The Morning Walkthrough is a set of links to Boston Celtics articles throughout the internet, designed to get your day started the right way.

Jessica Camerato, CSNNE – “It didn’t take long to recognize a transformation in Glen Davis this season. It started with the charges, as he sacrificed his body and slammed to the floor night after night. Next came the jumpshots, which he began to knock down on a consistent basis. Then there were the interviews where he spoke about leadership, maturity, and accountability. Davis had come a long way from the player who, just last season, broke his thumb fighting a friend and was fined for shouting an obscenity at a fan. Big Baby was growing up — but what changed him? Why now? As Davis revealed, someone very small has had a huge influence on him. ‘The summer was an eye-opening experience for me, just because of losing in the Finals,’ he told CSNNE.com. ‘Then also it comes to realization of, ‘Hey, I’ve become a father.’ I think that was one of the biggest things that really changed me.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “The first, crafted by Kevin Garnett and Tom Brady, requires at least a year after knee surgery before an athlete reaches his destination: complete health. And then there’s the Wes Welker version — the one that completes the trip in half the time. Perkins, who took an important step over the first half of yesterday’s practice by participating and even dunking in a dummy offensive drill, believes he can follow the faster road. ‘It was two different surgeries, two different guys,’ Perkins, who had the more radical surgery, said of Garnett. ‘Believe it or not, me and KG are mentally different. KG had to take his time getting back, and I’m a guy who will push to get back quicker. It’s the difference between me and him.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “‘Perk looked great for what he did, he actually dunked a couple times,’ Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. ‘That’s good. He’s in great shape and that’s one thing. He’s worked so hard.’ Little more than five months after undergoing ACL surgery in mid-July, Perkins underwent a MRI last week to gauge his healing. With his doctors satisfied with his progress, Perkins was fitted for a new brace for his right knee and cleared by the Celtics’ medical staff to participate in noncontact drills with the team. … Asked if he thought about his knee during the practice, Perkins said, ‘Not today. A couple times I did, like on a pick-and-roll that I went up and dunked, but I didn’t even think about it then, not until after. I was like, ‘Damn, I might be all right, after all.’ I felt pretty good out there.’ One time on the court isn’t enough to clear that mental hurdle, and Rivers knows that is likely the biggest challenge any injured player faces in coming back from a major injury. ‘The mental part is when he comes back, how much he trusts his leg,’ Rivers said. ‘If we can get anything out of Perk this year, we’ll be thrilled. I know he’s going to play, but it usually takes a year after surgery to be completely confident. Some break that barrier earlier — [New England Patriots wide receiver] Wes Welker being one — but Tom Brady couldn’t. He was good last year; he’s the MVP this year.’ Perkins would love to make like Welker, and his ability to get back on the playing field for even the most basic of exercises just five months after surgery is remarkable. But Perkins also stressed that, while he hasn’t suffered any setbacks in his recovery, he’s trying not to be overly ambitious with his timeline to return. In fact, he suggested that Rivers, who usually preaches a ‘take all the time you need to get 100 percent’ philosophy, might have a speedier timeline (late January/early February, according to Perkins) than the big man himself is envisioning (All-Star break in late February).”

Michael Vega, Boston Globe – “O’Neal, meanwhile, drew one step closer to getting back from a sore left knee that left him sidelined for the last 19 games. He hinted that he might play tonight against the 76ers at TD Garden. ‘It’s a challenge,’ O’Neal said of his protracted absence — since the second half of an 89-87 loss at Dallas Nov. 8. ‘We don’t have a ton of practices, so you can’t wait until you get five good practices. You got to play when you feel like it’s doable and I feel like I’m close. I may play [tonight]. I’m just going to talk to the medical staff and see how they feel and how they’re going to gauge it, but I feel like we’ve done enough work to protect the knee. Conditioning-wise, I’m not going to be in tip-top shape, but it happens when you don’t have enough practices. I will [be] when I do have enough practices.’ A welcome sight for the lucky sponsors who attended the open practice was Perkins throwing down a dunk off a pick-and-roll move. ‘Today he was the most active [that he’s been],’ coach Doc Rivers said of Perkins. “He even did the warm-ups, which he’s never done before.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Rivers had an interesting analogy when asked about Garnett’s importance to his defense. ‘I think (Garnett) is the best linebacker in the league,’ the coach said. ‘He’s very much like Mike Singletary was with the Bears — you can see those eyes, and he’s calling out all the coverages. He’s pretty much back to where he was three years ago, and he may be better now because he knows the team better. He sees the floor. He’s the point guard on defense, he sees the coverages, he smells things out. He studies the game. If we call ‘four up three down’ (tonight) — that’s a Philly play — he’ll know the actions. Him and two other guys. That’s why he’s good. (Orlando’s) Dwight Howard is pretty good, too, but they’re different.’”

Got a tip? An article you think should be included? Send an email to jayking@celticstown.com or hit me up on Twitter @CelticsTown.

Austin Rivers’ offensive arsenal is destructive. (h/t SLAM)

In other news, Jermaine O’Neal said he is “50-50″ for Wednesday’s game but will play Saturday if he doesn’t Wednesday.

Also, there’s this:

“My body is going to be a little sore, I’ve been ot a month and a half,” said O’Neal. “But there’s a difference between soreness and pain. I’m just a little sore. This is who I am right now. This is what God has given me right now. You deal with it and move forward. With the brace, it’s going to help, but I can’t guarantee that the knee is not going to flare up. But right now I feel good, I feel strong, I feel capable of helping the team.”

“I’m just a little sore. This is who I am right now. This is what God has given me right now.” – The story of Jermaine O’Neal’s career.

(Quote from ESPN Boston)

On a day when Kendrick Perkins walked through some plays in practice (and even dunked a couple times, and might even be back by late January), I finally discuss the Orlando Magic’s trades.

Why didn’t I write about them before? For a couple reasons: 1) Life sometimes interferes even with the most dedicated bloggers, and 2) I needed some time to wrap my head around the thought of Malik Allen being a number one backup center.

Okay, on to the roster overhaul. First, I have no idea whether it will work. My guess would be that it doesn’t — mostly because, for it to work, Gilbert Arenas needs to return to ’06-’07 Agent Zero, and Hedo Turkoglu needs to revert to the walking mismatch who was Orlando’s go-to playmaker in their 2009 Finals run. To expect either of them to return to their former selves requires a leap of faith I’m not ready to make.

More likely, Jason Richardson will end up being Orlando’s most important acquisition from the trades. Which is fine… unless you’re actually trying to win an NBA championship, in which case you need at least one player who can create at the end of games. Richardson isn’t that guy, and neither is the Arenas we’ve seen since his return, and neither is the zombie living in Hedo’s body the past two seasons.

It’s clear Orlando made these moves to win an NBA championship now, and to entice Dwight Howard to stick around when his contract expires. But how much closer are they to a championship? They have SO many question marks in their lineup now.

How do Jameer Nelson and Gilbert Arenas fit in the same backcourt? Who becomes the playmaker come crunch time? Can this team stop anyone? Will Dwight Howard get into more foul trouble than ever before because his perimeter defenders act as a funnel straight to him? Is the trio of Ryan Anderson, Malik Allen and Daniel Orton REALLY Orlando’s only backcourt bench help? Is one ball going to be enough for this psychotic, half-crazy (entirely crazy?), shot-happy (no pun intended for Gilbert) crew? Does Hedo Turkoglu’s heart even still beat?

Okay, so the Magic probably aren’t done trading yet. I don’t see J.J. Redick sticking around (there isn’t really a spot for him anymore), so he’ll probably get swapped for some big man help. Even so, the perimeter questions still stand. All of them. Call me crazy, but I don’t see any of these new Magicians A) fitting in well with Stan Van Gundy’s style, B) stopping a soul, or C) taking over come crunch time. In their primes, yes. But these folks aren’t in their primes anymore. In their Magic opener, Hedo (shocking nobody in Toronto or Phoenix) still sucked, and Arenas came off the bench and shot 2-11 (also shocking nobody). Will they improve with time? I assume. But don’t expect any of these guys to be stars, in Orlando. And the Magic need at least one of them to be capable of star production.

(Side note: Malik Allen played 13 minutes in his first post-trade action, registering 0 points and 1 rebound. That next trade can’t come soon enough.)

In conclusion, I like the motives behind the trades, but not the trades themselves. Otis Smith knew his Magic, as they were constructed, weren’t going to win a championship. So he pulled the trigger, drastically changing a team that was only a step shy of a championship in the first place. More GMs should be built like that. The NBA should be about winning championships, and anything else should be uncivilized.

Just take a look at the Atlanta Hawks. As presently constructed, they have zero shot of winning a championship or even coming close. But they just signed Joe Johnson for $120 million, apparently so they can continue their string of first- and second-round playoff runs for the foreseeable future. It’s like when the Celtics traded away Joe Johnson so they could rent Tony Delk and Rodney Rodgers. Sure, the trade helped them reach the Eastern Conference Finals, but I promise: no matter what happened, a lineup of Kenny Anderson, Paul Pierce, Tony Delk, Antoine Walker and Tony Battie was never taking down the Shaq-Kobe Los Angeles Lakers. What’s better — reaching the Eastern Conference Finals or keeping your most promising rookie since Paul Pierce? What’s more important — reaching a low ceiling, or trying to make that ceiling a little higher?

Back to the Magic, I admire the stones Otis Smith displayed while trying to shake things up. But the overhaul seems a lot more like Steve Kerr’s failed Shaq experiment in Phoenix, rather than the Rasheed Wallace trade that spurred Detroit to the 2004 title. Trading for big names doesn’t always equate to success, and I have a feeling Otis Smith will soon kick himself that he didn’t spend more time trying to acquire Carmelo Anthony.

Basically, the Magic traded two old, over-the-hill big names (and Marcin Gortat) for two old, over-the-hill big names (and Jason Richardson). They changed, indeed.

But are they any closer to the elusive NBA championship? I think not.

Julian Benbow destroys his piece on Boston draft snubs.

Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo fell later in the first round than they expected. Glen Davis was drafted in the second round. Marquis Daniels wasn’t drafted at all. Even Doc Rivers and Danny Ainge were second round draft picks.

And they all took the snubs the right way.

“It molds you into the player that you need to be,’’ Davis said. “You can take that information and you can take that experience and go whatever way you want to. You can feel sorry for what you didn’t do in college. You can ask, ‘Why didn’t people draft you?’ Or you can take the information and say this is going to be my fuel to get to where I need to go and show these people that when you passed me up, you made a huge mistake.’’

Luke Harangody, I hope you’re listening.

The Morning Walkthrough is a set of links to Boston Celtics articles throughout the internet, designed to get your day started the right way.

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “The cast will be removed from his wrist Dec. 30, and West has set an ambitious target for a return. He hopes to be back on the floor between mid- and late-January. … ’You would like to get guys back as much as possible to get the starters some relief,’ West said. ‘Unfortunately the starters are the ones playing most of the minutes. If we can get Paul (Pierce), Ray (Allen), (Kevin Garnett) and Rondo some time just to give their legs rest — even six minutes a game more — they’ll definitely benefit going into the stretch run. Winning right now is nice, but we want to be winning heading into June,’ he said. ‘I get this off the 30th (of December), so I can think about January. A bone takes 4-6 weeks to heal, and I’ve already put three weeks in. I’ll get tests on the 30th, and then I can do some rehabilitation.’”

Ben Rohrbach, WEEI – “In somewhat of a footnote in his most recent Sports Illustrated column, Ian Thomsen listed the records of NBA teams against oppoenents with a .500 record or better. You’ll never guess which team ranked atop the list. Every day, people are coming up with new ways to capture how impressive the 2010-11 Celtics have been despite injuries that are piling up faster than my Christmas shopping list. But the fact that the Celtics are 10-2 against above-.500 teams while no other Eastern Conference club has a winning record against those same squads might tell us all we need to know about the C’s chances of returning to the NBA Finals. Against the best, the Celtics have been the best.”

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “Playing with the first unit is also rebuilding Robinson’s confidence, which might have eroded a bit during his struggles to adapt last season. ‘You have to have confidence,’ Robinson said. ‘When I shoot the ball, I feel like I can make every shot. I feed that into my brain every day — night in, night out. That’s how I play the game. I feel like I can’t be stopped and I have to keep that mentality, always be aggressive, on offense and defense. It’s something that I think guys should think more about themselves: That nobody can stop me, no matter what.’”

John Schuhmann, NBA.com – “There’s no doubt that Shaq adds to the entertainment value of the Celtics’ roster, but he’s actually only part of the show. ‘This is the funniest team I’ve been on all my life,’ he said this week. ‘I even told KG, ‘I had no idea you guys were this funny.’ ‘ Maybe Shaq and Robinson have brought out the inner-goofball in the rest of the Celtics, but the idea of Garnett being a character is a little hard to accept. This is the guy who talks to the basket stanchion before every game, barks at opponents non-stop, and seemingly lets out an expletive with every breath he takes. ‘On game day, don’t mess with KG,’ Shaq said. ‘But on practice day, he’s the funniest guy ever.’”

Jessica Camerato, CSNNE – “Europe boasts some of the best fashion in the world. But at seven-feet tall, Erden often has trouble fitting into the latest trends. Now that he is shopping in Boston, he is able to find threads that fit his size and style. ‘I go to Newbury Street,’ he explained. ‘I like Louis Vuitton, Gucci. Shopping is better in Boston. In Turkey, I’m really tall so we can’t find some things. It’s too hard. But I have a lot of friends in Turkey so they make the clothes special for me. But I like the shopping in Boston more.’ … While Erden likes to soak up the sights and sounds of Boston, he also enjoys a quiet day at home. When he has a rare day off, Erden skips the city scene and sticks with his couch instead. ‘[I] just rest at home, play PlayStation 3,’ he said. ‘Now I play ‘Call of Duty’ and soccer, but not American soccer. This is European soccer.’”

Jeff Caplan, ESPN Boston – “”The Mavericks spent the two days leading up to Monday’s showdown talking endlessly about everything the Miami Heat had done right in rattling off 12 wins in a row since losing three weeks ago in Dallas. The list was long and stunning: running more, playing all-world defense, playing off each other, shooting the lights out of the 3-ball. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were practically walking on water. Mavs coach Rick Carlisle went so far as to say Miami was doing ‘unprecedented things.’ Then the Mavs — as Carlisle will say — systemically took it all away. The NBA’s streak-busters did it again, holding Miami to 40.5 percent shooting by mixing in doses of a now-clockwork zone defense that the Heat couldn’t counter. Dallas allowed just five fast-break points, held Miami’s big three to mortal performances (60 points combined on 22-of-49 shooting) and then won it 98-96 with 10 minutes of lockdown fourth-quarter defense and a 33-point final period spurred by Jason Terry’s 19. So add the Heat to the San Antonio Spurs (12-game win streak), New Orleans Hornets (eight), Utah Jazz (seven), Boston Celtics (five) and Oklahoma City Thunder (five) on the list of hot teams the Mavs have stopped cold.”

Got a tip? An article you think should be included? Send an email to jayking@celticstown.com or hit me up on Twitter @CelticsTown.