From Marc Spears:

The Celtics will be leaving the Boston area for training camp again next season, but won’t be traveling nearly as far.

General manager Danny Ainge confirmed yesterday that the defending NBA champions will hold camp at Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I. An NBA official said players must report Sept. 29, with practice beginning the next day. The Celtics had camp in London and Rome prior to last season and played two exhibition games there.

“It’s closer and it’s away,” said Ainge in a telephone interview. “We looked at Vermont a couple of years ago.”

Coach Doc Rivers and his players raved about holding camp in Europe last year and thought it helped a team with many new players bond quickly. Rivers had expressed hope that the Celtics would have training camp outside the Boston area again next season. Ainge, however, didn’t feel as good about last year’s camp, since there was a lot more on the team’s plate than basketball while in Europe.

“I think there were distractions,” he said. “It was great for the players to spend time together . . . but I think a training camp anywhere would have been special and the motivation would be special.”

With such a short offseason, it just doesn’t make sense to travel to far away places like last year. I also agree with Danny in a way; guys would have been hyped and motivated anywhere, especially Kevin Garnett. Once you have a guy like KG setting the tone, everyone will follow, whether you’re in Rome or on an outdoor court in Cambridge.

Not to mention, having camp back close to home will be great for us fans. The lack of daily coverage last year was tough for me to deal with. I was constantly itching for updates, but you obviously don’t get as many when the team is that far away. All the outlets will be there in Rhode Island, giving us the kind of coverage that we’re used to again.

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