In basketball, as in life, leadership often makes all the difference. Leaders motivate and conduct, but perhaps more importantly leaders must inspire. Good leadership inspires players to have confidence in the leader himself. It is only great leadership though that inspires players to have confidence in themselves.

With that in mind it takes only one look at the Boston Celtics to recognize their true leader. Paul Pierce is their charger, Ray Allen is their calming influence, and Rajon Rondo their vitality. But if Boston’s season came down to one player, there can be no question it would be Kevin Garnett.

His importance was made clear by his absence at the end of last season. When the team shut down any chance of his returning for the postseason, others stepped up and the Celtics’ shared the leadership .

Garnett had created a positive culture and lead his teammates to believe in themselves.

Yet it was fleeting.

Pierce played inspired offensively and defended well against the likes of Hedo Turkoglu, but without Garnett providing his typical brilliant help defense, he wore out. Rondo played the best basketball of his life against Chicago until his well-remembered foul on Brad Miller, which sent him into shellshock. Allen carried the team offensively for huge stretches (sometimes games at a time, really) but tired legs ultimately got the better of him.

The manner in which the Celtics rallied last spring was inspiring, but it only served as proof of what they were missing.

Garnett is their lifeblood, the soul of the Celtic organization. No one can question the fire and energy he prompts in others. That being said, animated competitiveness will not carry the day if the former MVP is not healthy.

It is not an oversimplification to say that the success of the upcoming season is entirely dependent on how much Garrett has left in his knees. His influence is that great.

He has reportedly been making steady progress in his recovery from knee surgery, working out with team trainers and running daily, but he has yet to actually play a full-court game with his teammates. The Celtics expect him to be ready for the start of training camp, but he has not played at full speed since before the NBA Playoffs started.

If that isn’t a terrifying thought for Boston fans I don’t know what is.

How Garnett is expected to come back and return to form is still a mystery. That mystery is in no small part made stranger because we do no really know what was wrong with him. Is it possible that the trademark intensity and anxiousness Garnett has always played with merely put too much strain and stress on his body? Is it just a matter of there now being too much mileage on his aging knees? Sure, he won Defensive Player of the Year only a short year ago, but he also only played in 57 games last year.

Officially the team has reported that he had bone spurs removed during arthroscopic surgery in May, but there are looming questions about the durability of his tendons, and rumors that the surgery involved put staples into his knee to hold it together.

It is not out of the question he might have lost his explosiveness altogether – knee complications are that serious for a player that relies on boundless energy and explosive jumping ability.

No one can be sure how he will respond. He has played over 1000 games in his career already to this point. He is the owner of 658 career double-doubles, but he has also steadily been declining in scoring and rebounding for three years. Garnett’s 2008-09 stats (15.8 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 2.5 APG) were significantly down nearly 5 points, 3 rebound and 2 assists a game off of his pace from just a year earlier, which was already his worst statistical season since his rookie season.

What has to be the most concerning for Boston fans though is Garnett’s three-year, $56.5 million extension begins only this season. In the final year of that deal in 2011-12 he will make $21.2 million.

If Garnett’s knee is permanently damaged, the Celtics entire roster and salary structure could collapse on itself.

That by no means promises that Garnett is done though. It is difficult to write off someone with over 21,000 points and 11,000 rebounds in a hurry. After all, the last season he finished healthy saw him raising the Larry O’Brien trophy at the end of it.

Kevin Garnett worked and rehabbed this off-season, day in and day out, and whether we are Boston fans or not, we should hope he sees success from that effort and returns to form.

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