In the midst of worrying about Manny’s mother, about wondering if Pedro’s vacation in the Dominican was long enough, we turn our attention to basketball.

Basketball?

The Celtics’ version of the hot stove league happened this week in Boston, where the Reebok Pro Summer League took center court. I’m not a big hoops guy, but UMass-Boston was the place to be Monday when the Celts “rookie” team tipped off against the Cavaliers. On the court for Cleveland was the heralded LeBron James.

It’d be interesting to have the 18-year-old James write one of those “how I spent my summer vacation” essays. He could talk about being drafted first overall, about signing a $90 million shoe contract. Maybe he could tell us how his new Hummer H-2 is running.

The small gym was packed to the rafters as the host team took on the wunderkind and his teammates. He pumped in 25 points, and showed he was one of the best players on the court. Of course, the rest of the court was littered with first-, second-, and third-year NBA wannabes. If James is going to get on the path to true NBA greatness — Michael, Larry, and Magic type greatness — he’d better realize it’s a long, tough road.

“He’s going to have to show an interest in playing defense,” said former Celtic Cedric Maxwell, “and he didn’t show much of that here.”

Still, everyone on hand was watching LeBron from the minute he came out to take pre-game lay-ups. Since this is Boston, they were watching him, but not cheering for him.

“That’s the great thing about our fans,” said Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge. “I was in Orlando for their summer league, and the fans there would cheer every time LeBron scored a basket. Here, they were cheering for the Celtics.”

It was a busy time for Ainge. The NBA free agency period is here, and while other teams were bulking up, Ainge was just trying to get the Celts back to where they were a year ago. He re-signed Mark Blount, and was trying hard to bring fan favorite Walter McCarty back into the fold. Doesn’t get you too excited, does it?

Three years ago, there was absolutely no reason to talk about the Celtics in July. A trip to the Eastern Conference Finals two years ago, followed by a first-round upset of Indiana last year, has created a mild interest in the team.

Where does it go from here?

It looks like the team will be understaffed, despite new ownership. Last year, the Paul Gaston group handcuffed the basketball people and didn’t let them resign key players like Rodney Rodgers, and the team suffered because of it. Now, the best the C’s can do is try to bring McCarty back. All on a 13-man roster.

While the Lakers were loading up, and the Nets were bringing back Jason Kidd and adding Alonzo Mourning, Boston is trying desperately to bring back the status quo. That, and hoping against hope that the current roster of players can improve on its own.

“What if Vin Baker can have a season like he did a few years ago with Seattle?” asked Ainge.

What if pigs could fly?

After his Boston debut, James jetted out to the West Coast to be at the ESPY Awards. He returned a day later, although he didn’t play in the Cavs’ second game.

The Celtics are trying to return from irrelevance. They’ve made some nice moves in that direction over the last two years, but if their hopes are pinned on Vin Baker, it’s going to be a very tough sell at the FleetCenter this winter.

Lewiston native Tom Caron is a sports analyst for NESN telecasts of Red Sox and Bruins games.

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