Avery Bradley is as fearless as they come. The Boston Celtics guard had been a great perimeter defender since college, but has evolved into a player that won't back down from anyone.

Perhaps it all started with the story of how he once earned Kevin Garnett‘s jersey.

Garnett played six memorable seasons in Boston. After a short stint with Paul Pierce in Brooklyn, the all-time scoring leader of the Minnesota Timberwolves came back to the team that drafted him.

Bradley has played three seasons with Garnett. In their time together, KG did cuss Bradley out one time, despite the guard only making 78 starts in that span as he backed up Ray Allen for two seasons.

“This year, I was telling my teammates when we were playing in Minnesota, I was like, ‘I don’t think KG’s gonna give me a jersey,'” Bradley told Tom Westerholm of MassLive. “My teammates were like, ‘Man, what? He doesn’t talk to nobody but you. He’s gonna give you a jersey.'

I asked one of the ball boys and he was like, ‘He just turned down Jeff Green. He’s not giving one to anybody.’ So I asked, and KG wrote me a letter like, ‘I love you. This jersey is for you, keep working hard.’ He wrote me a letter, and now I have his jersey up at my house.”

This is typical grandpa KG — blunt, unapologetic, but ultimately incredibly appreciative.

Despite being a backup, Bradley worked hard and diligently — that didn't get past the eyes of Garnett and won his respect.

If you ask any NBA player, that itself is an award to be proud of.