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Former Oklahoma City Thunder Forward Jeff Green Out For the Season With a Heart Condition

Via CelticsBlog and the AP:

BOSTON - The Boston Celtics announced today that forward Jeff Green will undergo surgery on Monday January 9, 2012 at the Cleveland Clinic and will miss the 2011-12 season.

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.

During his team physical Friday, December 9th, an aortic aneurysm was detected. As a precautionary measure, Green underwent extensive additional testing, after which doctors recommended surgery.

"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."

At Jeff's request, neither Jeff nor the Celtics will have any additional comment at this time.

Yikes. That totally sucks. Jeff Green has had an incredibly injury-free career, appearing in nearly all of his scheduled Thunder and Celtics appearances. Still, there are some things you just can't control, like the strength of your heart. It's nothing new for the NBA, as Fabricio Oberto recently retired due to a heart condition, and Ronny Turiaf has had heart surgery. It's definitely possible to recover from it, though I can't imagine doing so is a fun experience.

While this injury is only a minor setback in terms of his entire career, it has to be horrible to deal with personally. I wish nothing but the best for Jeff as he begins his recovery.