Celtics president Danny Ainge spoke out on Thursday afternoon in defense of forward Kevin Garnett, who was accused by Detroit's Charlie Villanueva of calling him a "cancer patient" during a game Tuesday.

Ainge called Villanueva a self-promoter and said his accusations were "ludicrous," during his weekly appearance on WEEI-AM in Boston.

"There's one thing that I know for sure, and it's that KG would not offend cancer patients," Ainge said.

"That makes no sense. It makes no sense on a lot of fronts. Not only is he experiencing it in his own family, but that's just not something I've ever heard -- in 30 years -- ever say, in trash talking. What is logical in a trash talking situation for a player to say to another player, 'You have cancer' or 'You are cancer'?"