Orlando Spinal Cord Injury

Marquis Daniels 'definitely' able to play next season

The last time Boston Celtics fans saw Marquis Daniels on a basketball floor, the versatile winger has been made of the TD Garden on a stretcher after suffering a bruised spinal cord.

Daniels fans and the Celtics did not know if he would ever play again.

It is not completely back to full strength, but it is now at a point where his agent, Mark Bartelstein, said that Daniels CSNNE.com will "definitely" be able to play next season.

And it's not quite out of the question before the 6-foot-6 could return to Boston, either.

"When the time comes, he's going to look at and explore all his options," Bartelstein said. "But Boston is certainly a team he knows well, has a great amount of respect for and really enjoyed his time there."

Bartlestein said Daniels will have another check-up in a couple weeks.

"He can do some light work now, but after that, he should be able to go all-out," Bartelstein said.

While Daniels' versatility is coveted, his track record with injuries raises a number of concerns.

During the 2009-2010 season - his first season with the Celtics - he missed 31 games with assorted injuries the most serious being a wrist injury that required surgery. He eventually returned, only to suffer a neck injury in the playoffs. This past season, injuries to the spinal cord Daniels ended his season after just 49 games. It marked the third consecutive year Daniels missed a lot of time due to injury (he appeared in 54 games during the 2008-2009 season in Indiana).

Even though Daniels' play was inconsistent at times last season, it was clear that he was more comfortable and played with greater confidence having had a year under his belt in the Celtics' system.
 
"I was just trying to fit in (during the first year with the Celtics)," Daniels said prior to suffering a bruised spinal cord injury against Orlando on Feb. 6. "They look for me now; just knowing your role and accepting it."

Daniels did just that, with the Celtics posting a 37-12 record with him in the lineup last season.

Even with a clean bill of health, it is unclear if the Celtics will pursue Daniels when the free agency period begins.

It usually begins July 1, but with the Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire June 30, it's unclear when teams can begin negotiating with free agents.

Parents of brain injured push for movement of state funds ...

Taking care of someone with a severe brain injury can be life-changing. It can also be extremely expensive. There are state funds tagged for people with brain injuries, but advocates say the money is not used wisely. That's about to change.

There are roughly 600 people currently on the state's waiting list to receive monetary help for patients with brain injuries . According to the Sun Sentinel, the state currently gives $1 million to the nonprofit Brain Injury Association, as well as $2 million to other consultants.

However, advocates say if the money is pooled - all with $ 3,000,000 going directly on services for patients with brain injuries and spinal cord - the benefit is greater. After lobbying legislators, the parent of a person injured brain convinced them to do so. The federal government had also decided to add $ 3.8 million to fund Medicaid.

The extra money would help some of the 600 people waiting for help. The parent of a man who suffered serious head injuries in an attack several years ago calls for the state of the brain and spinal cord injury program worthless. She says the agency offered her son - who had no problems speaking because of his injury - two hours a month of speech therapy. That was it.

It is the hope of parents in similar predicaments that the money shift could provide for more services. The funds, which are largely provided by license tag fees and traffic citation fines, has simply not been used properly up to now, advocates say. One says the system was actually self-serving.

Not for much longer.

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