None of this is on Jeff Green. He deserves sympathy for what he went through, undergoing season-ending surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm that wiped out his entire season with the Boston Celtics this year. By no means am I suggesting that Green deserves blame. I am very happy to have him in Boston.
However, the situation surrounding Green's health and the trade that sent him from the Oklahoma City Thunder to Boston is a little fishy. On Tuesday, the NBA awarded the Celtics an extra second-round draft pick in the 2013 NBA Draft from the Thunder after it discovered that OKC's doctors had information about Green that should have been presented to Boston. Here's the statement from the league.
"As part of a ruling in a trade disclosure dispute between the Boston Celtics and the Oklahoma City Thunder, NBA Commissioner David Stern today awarded the Celtics a 2013 second-round draft pick held by the Thunder. Stern found that there was no evidence of bad faith or any intent to withhold information on the part of Thunder management or its physicians, but that Oklahoma City's cardiologists were in possession of information about Jeff Green that was not shared with Thunder management and that should have been disclosed to the Celtics in connection with the trade of Green in February 2011." (via WEEI)
Now, am I missing something here? The NBA said there was no evidence of bad faith from the Thunder, yet one sentence later, said that Oklahoma City's cardiologist had information it did not share. While the team's front office of the may not have done so, a team doctor didn't release information that the league said should have been released. Keyword, team doctor. How exactly is that not in bad faith?
Bottom line, both sides are to blame (again, not Green). Oklahoma City should have presented all of the information on Green's health, and Boston probably should have been more aggressive about obtaining it. Still, something isn't right here, and it might be worth additional investigation from the league.
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