No Timetable for Mickael Pietrus to Return to Playing for Celtics

by abournenesn

Mar 26, 2012

No Timetable for Mickael Pietrus to Return to Playing for CelticsMickael Pietrus has spoken with Celtics coach Doc Rivers and communicated with his teammates via text messages since he was wheeled off the floor of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Friday. At no point in any of those conversations did a timetable for Pietrus' return to playing come up, his coach and teammates said.

Pietrus, who suffered a concussion when he landed violently on his back in the second quarter of Friday's game, returned to Boston on Saturday, but had not even been given the post-concussion test as of Sunday evening, Rivers said prior to Sunday's game against the Wizards.

"He sounds great," Rivers said. "He sounds like Mickael — I don't understand anything he's saying."

The NBA instituted a concussion procedure this season similar to the one administered by the NFL. Players take cognitive tests before the season as a "baseline," and if the player suffers a concussion during the year, he must match his baseline performance before he is allowed to play.

Rivers insisted he was not even slightly curious when the veteran swingman may be available to play again.

"We didn't talk about playing," Rivers said. "We just talked. I didn't bring up playing at all."

Kevin Garnett, who has not spoken with Pietrus but has been receiving text message updates on his condition, also said Pietrus' playing status is of secondary importance to his overall health.

"We've been keeping up with him and making sure his health and everything is OK," Garnett said. "What's most important is his health, because that's someone's father, someone's brother, someone's son. That's what's most important when it comes to these type of things."

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