Kendrick Perkins won't return to the court until 2011, but he still calls himself the captain of Boston's defense.
In the meantime, Boston has Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal to help fill the center position.
"OK, listen," Perkins said, "I'm going to put it like this here: I can't do what Shaq is doing, and Shaq can't do what I do. I can't do what Jermaine does, and Jermaine can't do what I do. So the things that they bring to the table are different than what I bring to the table. See what I'm saying?
"At the end of the day you can say what you want, but I'm really the captain of the defense," he said. "And that won't change."