Jeff Green has given precious few interviews since undergoing season-ending heart surgery last summer. Even during the few occasions he answered questions from the press, his responses hardly revealed his innermost thoughts.

But he opened up to Josh Zavadil of CelticsBlog during an article published today. Green spoke of:

• having troubles walking in the weeks immediately after surgery
• feeling like he let his teammates down, an absurd thought considering his life would have been in danger if he hadn’t undergone surgery
• not being able to lay on his stomach for two-and-a-half months after surgery (note: I would not have been able to sleep a wink — sadly, I’m not an ambi-sleeper)
• how often his Celtics teammates checked in on him after surgery, when he didn’t immediately know of their care
• taking a break from watching basketball for more than a month because it was too difficult to watch the game that had been temporarily yanked from him
• Danny Ainge’s productive summer
• knowing there will always be negativity (note: mostly from me, probably), but trying to do whatever he can to help the Celtics win

I never feel like I knew Jeff Green before. He obviously seemed like a good guy, hanging, laughing and joking with his Celtics teammates, but during interviews he rarely let his guard down or allowed himself to seem human. Maybe he’s more open now after heart surgery. Maybe Zavadil just did a tremendous job with the interview.

Whatever the case, I will now root more strongly than ever for Jeff Green. He’s a Celtics, he’s a survivor, and finally, during his dealings with the press, he’s human.

Kevin McHale was the most skilled low-post player I’ve ever seen; his footwork was sensational, he had a silky touch around the hoop, his arms were so long it seemed his knuckles dragged on the floor and he had the nastiest, thickest pit hair imaginable. I’m convinced his gross pit hair was an advantage on the court (I know I would stay as far away as possible).

McHale played 13 seasons as a power forward for the Celtics, and was part of “The Big Three,” the greatest frontcourt ever, along with Larry Bird and Robert Parish. He was consistently one of the best sixth men in the league until 1986, when he earned the starting power forward position, and the Boston Celtics went on to have the best record in franchise history at 69-13 and win an NBA Championship.

McHale’s clutch scoring and versatile defense helped lead the Celtics to three NBA Championships during his career. McHale is currently the Boston Celtics fourth All-time scoring leader and sixth All-time rebounding leader. McHale’s statistical accomplishments may have been greater had the later part of his career not been hampered by a reoccurring ankle injury he sustained while playing on a broken foot in the 1987 NBA Finals.

Recently, McHale has contributed to the Celtics in other ways. In the summer of 2007, McHale, as GM of the Minnesota Timberwolves, traded Kevin Garnett to the Celtics for Al Jefferson and change, paving the way for the 2008 Boston Celtics to stitch their 17th championship banner.

Nicknamed DJ, Dennis Johnson played one season of ball at Pepperdine University averaging 15.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. The Seattle Supersonics drafted him with the 29th pick in the 1976 NBA Draft.

DJ had an underwhelming rookie season, but when Lenny Wilkens became the Sonics coach in 1978, DJ became the starting shooting guard and helped lead the Sonics to the NBA Finals. DJ, however, was the Finals scapegoat when he missed all 14 shots he took in Game 7.

A la Tim Tebow, DJ vowed never to let that happen again. In 1979, the Seattle Supersonics won the NBA Finals and Johnson made good on his vow, winning Finals MVP.

Despite his success, Seattle traded DJ to the Phoenix Suns in 1981 because he no longer got along well with coach Lenny Wilkens. With the Suns, DJ was a two-time All-Star, three-time All-Defensive First Team and was All-NBA First Team in 1982. Even with all the success, he once again clashed again with the coach, John MacLeod, and was traded to the Celtics for the 1984 season.

Before he joined the Boston Celtics, DJ was a very good player; in Boston, he became a memorable one. He won two NBA championships and earned the respect of teammates and opponents alike. Magic Johnson called him “ the greatest backcourt defender of all-time” and Larry Bird considered him “the best player he ever played with.” DJ will be remembered for his tenacious defense, the selfless, steady job he did as a Celtics floor general, and his game winning lay up against the Detroit Pistons in the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals on a steal and pass from Larry Bird.

John “Hondo” Havlicek was a 6’5” shooting guard-small forward who provided vital contributions at the end of the Boston Celtics Dynasty and then went on to win two more titles with the Celtics after Bill Russell had retired and the Dynasty had ended.

Havlicek is known as the player who revolutionized the sixth-man role. He was the first truly great player to come off the bench, saying about his role as sixth man, “It’s not who starts the game, but who finishes it, and I generally was around at the finish.” Hondo embraced his role, and was a true weapon as a 6th man who could change the outcome of a game.

Havlicek accumulated career averages of 20.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists during his 16-year career. He was named to thirteen All-Star teams, eleven All-NBA First or Second Teams, and eight NBA All-Defensive First or Second Teams, won eight NBA Championships, and ended his career as the NBA’s top all-time scorer.

Though he became incredibly successful as a basketball player, Hondo had humble beginnings. Red Auerbach drafted him with low expectations, and Bob Cousy called Havlicek “a non-shooter who would probably burn himself out” after Havlicek’s rookie season. Havlicek spent his illustrious career proving his detractors wrong, and, to this day, remains one of the greatest Celtics of all-time.

Robert Parish was destined to play for the Boston Celtics. Though Parish went on to play the most games in NBA history, he almost quit basketball after the 1979 NBA season.

“I was contemplating retiring because I was losing my passion for the game,” Parish told the Boston Herald. “I didn’t enjoy playing and the guys I played with were very selfish and individualistic.”

Before the 1980 NBA season, however, Red Auerbach made a trade that would dramatically alter not only Robert Parish’s career, but the future of the NBA as well. Auerbach traded the 1st and 13th picks in the upcoming draft to the Golden State Warriors for Robert Parish and the 3rd pick, which turned out to be Kevin McHale.

McHale and Parish teamed up with Larry Bird to form, “The Big Three,” one of the best frountcourts ever and the nucleus for three Championships in the 1980′s as well as the best team in Boston Celtics history in 1986.

“Once I got traded,” Parish said, ” I felt rejuventated, with a new lease on life. It was a shot in the arm and I need that. That change recharged my batteries.”

Recharged like the Energizer Bunny, Parish went on to make 9 All-star appearances as a Celtic and won 4 NBA Championships, the last with the Chicago Buls in 1997. He is currently the 24th leading scorer in NBA history, the 7th leading rebounder and the 9th leading shot-blocker.

“It’s hard for me to even believe how good we were,” Parish later told the NBA website. “Some nights I’d be out there just kicking some guy’s butt, really feeling it, and then I’d look over and see what Kevin was doing, and what Larry was doing, and I’d say, ‘Man, this is something. This is special.’”

Bill Russell, or “Russ,” as they call him, was acquired through a trade that netted the Celtics the 2nd pick in the 1956 NBA draft. Red Auerbach knew that Russell was the missing piece to a Celtics championship, and gave up quite a bit to get Russell; six-time all-star Ed Macauley and rookie Cliff Hagan. Though the Celtics had to break the bank to acquire Russell, Auerbach knew they needed his rebounding and shot-blocking to become a championship-caliber team.

In thirteen seasons with the Celtics, Russell amassed career averages of 15.1 points, 22.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists. During those thirteen seasons, Russell was named the NBA’s MVP five times, and to the all-star team twelve times.

While he possesses an incredible history of individual accolades, Bill Russell was known more for his team play. Maybe nobody in the history of team sports has ever been as consistent a winner as Bill Russell. His record of 11 NBA championships is likely a record that will never be broken.

Long, agile, and intelligent, Russell is considered to be the best defensive player of all time. He was a shot-blocking mastermind who used shot blocks as a weapon to start his team going the other way for a fast break. Most of Russell’s contemporaries feel Russell would still be the all-time leader in shot blocks per game had blocks been kept as a statistic when Russell played.

In 1980, Russell was voted Greatest Player in the History of the NBA by the Professional Writer’s Association of America, and was later named one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players. He will forever be remembered as the ultimate winner, someone willing to sacrifice his individual stats for the sake of his team. He is considered by many to be the greatest Celtic ever to play, and by some to be the best basketball player in history.