training camp

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BOSTON -- Two years ago, as a rookie, Avery Bradley actually tried to hide in practice. "I didn't want to get in, because I was so scared of KG [Kevin Garnett] yelling at me if I messed up," he said during a panel Thursday hosted by Jessica Camerato at the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation's Summer Soiree. "I would sit on the sideline. I might not even get in the whole practice, because I didn't want KG to yell at me." You almost forget Bradley's still only 21 years old, since he was the elder Celtics statesman on a panel that included newcomers Courtney Lee, Kris Joseph and Dionte Christmas. How far the shy kid has come from Tacoma, Wash. Now? "We're like a family," said Bradley. "These guys are going to learn that we're like a family on and off the court. We all hang out. We all go to each other's house. It felt good to be part of a family, and I felt a lot more comfortable around the guys." It was once almost impossible to get more than a few words from Bradley, who could often be found fixating on the floor from a chair at his locker. Now, Camerato couldn't get him to stop talking. "You guys are going to be happy once we start that first day of training camp because all we want to do is win," he added. "We're a family. We don't care about anything but winning. To be part of a team like that, it makes you feel comfortable, because there's no pressure. You're not going out there worrying about scoring or doing things you can't do. You do your role and everything else will work itself out and we'll win games." The only subjects he wouldn't expound upon were his right and left shoulders, deftly explaining, "I'm just taking it day by day," four times during an interview session prior to the public panel. And when someone from the crowd later blurted out, "Avery, when you coming back?" he simply smiled and said, "Can't tell you." For more on the Celtics, visit weei.com/celtics.