Bradley May Miss Start of Camp

http://www.csnne.com/blog/celtics-talk/bradley-may-miss-camps-start-after-mothers-death


Bradley may miss camp's start after mother's death
September 18, 2013, 4:00 pm



BOSTON — The Boston Celtics may begin training camp without its starting backcourt from last season.

Four-time All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo is still on the mend from a torn right ACL injury that was surgically repaired in February, and his backcourt mate Avery Bradley is also questionable due to the recent death of his mother.

"He's going through a very difficult time," Danny Ainge, Boston's president of basketball operations, told CSNNE.com. "His mother passed away and they were very close and he's expecting a baby any day. He's got a lot going on."

Bradley's mother, Alicia "Lisa" Jones, 46, passed away on September 10.

When asked if Bradley might be late to training camp, Ainge responded, "I don't know. We're just taking it day-by-day right now."

Bradley, who was named to the NBA's All-Defensive second team last season, was a starter in all 50 games he played in for the Celtics.

Aware that he needed to be more durable for this season, the 6-foot-2 guard spent the past couple of months in Boston working out two and sometimes three times a day with the result being him adding about 15 pounds of muscle.

"Sometimes I was doing a little too much," Bradley said earlier this summer. "The two-a-days I'm doing now are perfect. They're preparing me for the season and I'm working out with the coaches so I'm getting familiar with them and my new teammates."

But with Rondo's return uncertain, there is a chance that Bradley may begin the regular season logging minutes at the point which would be similar to the role he had at times last season.

"Whatever my role is, whatever I can do to help our team out, that's what I'm going to be open to doing," said Bradley whose weight at one point this summer was 196 pounds, the heaviest he has ever weighed. "Even if I'm not playing point guard, whoever it is, I'm pretty sure whoever it is, Rondo is going to be there in his ear to try to help us be the best team we can be."



bob



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Wishing Avery all the best in coping with his mother's death.

Sam