Celtics Jeff Green Needs Heart Surgery, Will Miss Entire Season
BOSTON (CBS) - Boston Celtics forward Jeff Green is going to have heart surgery and will miss the entire 2011-12 season, the team announced Saturday.
Doctors detected an aortic aneurysm during the 25-year-old's physical last Friday. Follow-up testing confirmed the initial diagnosis.
The surgery is scheduled for January 9 at Cleveland Clinic.
A team of leading cardiac specialists who consulted with Green and the Celtics indicated that surgery should completely repair Green's condition and that he can expect to resume his NBA career next season.
"While we are saddened that Jeff will not be able to play this season, the most important thing is his health, and we were fortunate to have access to an amazing team of specialists to evaluate Jeff's case," said Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge. "The entire Celtics family supports Jeff during this difficult time in his career."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe reports
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"It's a tough one, obviously," said head coach Doc Rivers. "Not more for the team, I think that's an easy way to look at it. I look at it more in a couple of ways, No. 1 how lucky Jeff is because the fact that we found it and the fact that he can actually come back and play to me is the minor part. I could care less about that."
A restricted free agent, Green signed a one-year, $9 million deal with Boston after the NBA lockout ended. He averaged 9.8 points for the Celtics in 26 regular season games and tallied 7.3 points in nine postseason games.
