The 76ers already have spoken to Eddie Jordan about the position, and they are expected to meet with others.

When he first signed with the Celtics in 2007, Thibodeau stated his desire to become an NBA head coach. He signed two one-year contracts with the club, and although he would have been allowed to get out of a longer deal to be a head coach, this was seen as him keeping his options open to achieve his goal. (As in a team offering him an assistant position for a year with the guarantee he'd take over the top job.)

Though the administration has changed in Philadelphia, Thibodeau was an assistant there for two seasons under John Lucas.

Ainge said he remains hopeful that if things don't work out for Thibodeau with the 76ers or another club that he will be willing to continue with the Celtics .

Healing begins

The offseason got off to an abrupt start yesterday for the Celtics .

The entire team met with coach Doc Rivers at the team's Waltham practice facility, and Ainge started his one-on-one interviews, as the healing process did indeed begin.

Kendrick Perkins, who strained his often-injured left shoulder during the Eastern Conference semifinals by bumping against Magic center Dwight Howard, has at least one bit of good news.

Surgery apparently isn't in his stars this time around. Perkins did have shoulder surgery last summer.

``Just rest,'' said the Celtics center, who has had three shoulder surgeries, including two on the left. ``I can just rest it and go from there.

``Maybe I'll take a couple of week off from Basketball, but then I'll probably get going again.''

Paul Pierce, who is notoriously active during the summer in terms of playing Basketball, might take a little more time off to heal and recover this time around.

Unlike Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe, Pierce's physical state hasn't deteriorated to the point of any surgery.

``There's nothing wrong with me,'' Pierce said. ``I just have to take it easy for awhile.''

Brian Scalabrine, whose bench contributions were important in the playoffs, plans to stay in the area during the short term before returning to his home in Washington state. The forward, who missed parts of the season while recovering from postconcussion syndrome, will continue to visit specialists to ensure his recovery continues.

Tough talk

Howard might be the young superstar and Perkins the blue-collar worker, but the Orlando center admitted to learning from his matchup with Perkins during the seven-game series.

``I have a long way to go, but I'm still hungry and I want to be the best,'' Howard said. ``I learned a lot from this series and playing against tough guys like Perkins.

``I learned what I need to do in the offseason to come back as a better player.''

Easy to say now that the series is over and his Magic advanced, but Howard said he missed Garnett.

``I always loved playing against KG,'' he said. ``He has been a role model for me my whole life and to see him go down was sad for me. I just hope he comes back 100 percent, and I look forward to playing against him next year.'' . . .

Game 7 of the Magic- Celtics series was the most-viewed NBA second-round playoff game ever on cable, according to TNT. Orlando's 101-82 win was watched by 8.41 million viewers. The previous record was 7.65 million for Game 6 of Spurs-Lakers in 2004.

Read the Celtics Insider at bostonherald.com.