Image via WikipediaThe Boston Celtics are old. In signing Jermaine O'Neal and Shaquille O'Neal they certainly didn't make themselves any younger. On the other hand they have some key players that are relatively young in Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins, and they went to the NBA finals last year. The question then becomes, are they too old now? For that matter, how old is too old?
Jordan took some time off to play baseball. Garnett played out of high school. We're learning that 35 isn't the same when you're talking about kids who came out of high school. When I looked at minutes, I found out that Garnett has played more minutes already than Jordan or Scottie Pippen did during their entire careers, and he's about 5,000 more than either had played during the finals.
Ray Allen also already has more minutes played than those two had when they won. Pippen will be about even with where they were at the end of the season. So, in terms of age they might not be too old, but in terms of minutes played by a nucleus of players, I don't know if there's a group with that many miles on its tires.
In the end I don't know whether it can be said that they can't win, but it certainly is a valid question mark. Just because it hasn't been done doesn't mean it can't be done. But the fact it hasn't been done should indicate that history is against them.
A lot will probably depend on how much the Celtics can get from Rondo, and how well Perkins returns from his injury.
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