Subscribe
Follow Us
Kevin garnett is without a doubt one of the greatest players in Boston Celtics franchise history. The fact that he led this team to their first title in over two decades back in 2008 is a clear testament to his fact. Right now, the organization is rewarding Garnett's invaluable contributions to the franchise by hanging up his jersey on the rafters.
KG's jersey retirement is on Sunday and the Hall of Famer recently opened up about what this all means to him. Garnett has pretty much achieved everything he could during his decorated time in the league, but the 45-year-old admitted that this one hits a little different:
“I’m just trying to soak it up, being honest, I’m trying to be very humble. I don’t know. I’m just it’s all a shock to me, you know what I mean? When kids come up to me and they express their appreciation for different things. I don’t really know what to say other than, ‘Thank you,’” Garnett said in a recent interview, via Kyle Hightower of boston.com. “I just stayed true to what I was and who I was. It was the easiest thing to do. I didn’t want to be something I wasn’t.”
Garnett has always walked on his own path. As he said, he never pretended to be somebody he wasn't. And the Celtics faithful absolutely adored him for it.
The Celtics risked it all for KG when they traded for him from the Minnesota Timberwolves back in 2007. Everyone had very high expectations for him and that iteration of the Celtics. Garnett lived up to all the hype, and perhaps even more. Playing alongside other all-time Celtics greats such as Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, to name a couple, Garnett led Boston to the NBA title in just his first season with the team.
By his own admission, however, Garnett himself had his doubts when he first joined the Celtics:
“I had a lot of confidence in myself. I had a lot of confidence in my ability. I think my big worries were how would I mesh with Paul? How would I mesh with Ray? How to mesh with some of the young guys here?” Garnett recalled. “(Former general manager Danny Ainge) had a plan. I don’t know if that was the exact plan, but it worked out.”
It all worked out indeed. Right now, the Celtics are giving KG the ultimate honor by hanging his jersey in the rafters for all of eternity. From here on out, no other player can ever wear Garnett's No. 5 jersey for the Celtics.
It's only apt that KG ended his message by sighting another all-time Celtics great in Larry Bird. For more than a few folks, this man is the GOAT of Boston. Garnett himself clearly holds the great Larry Bird in such high esteem and one of the legend's statements about the Celtics supporters apparently stuck with KG through the years:
“I never went at the game nothing less than 100 percent,” Garnett said. “I heard Larry Bird say one time in his early years in Boston … the reason why he loved playing in front of the fans in Boston is because you couldn’t fake them. You couldn’t fool the fans. They knew when you were playing hard. They knew when you were giving your all. They had a sense of basketball history and they have high basketball IQs. They care. And I never forgot that.”
Come Sunday, Garnett will officially enter the history books by becoming one of just a handful of players that have received this honor from one of the most prestigious organizations in all of sports. To say that he deserves it would be an understatement.
