On Friday night, the Boston Celtics announced they would be retiring Kevin Garnett’s jersey number next season. Let’s relive Garnett’s tenure in Boston.
Kevin Garnett played 6 seasons for the Boston Celtics between the ages of 31 and 36. Garnett averaged 15.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game over his 6 season tenure. While these numbers may not be as gaudy as those with the Minnesota Timberwolves, they were more than the Celtics could have hoped for when trading for Garnett entering his age-31 season.
Garnett was a 4-time All-Star with the Celtics and won the 2007-2008 NBA defensive player of the year award in his first season with Boston. Garnett remains the all-time Celtics leader In defensive box plus/minus at 3.5. Oh, Garnett also helped the Celtics take home the 2007-2008 NBA championship.
The numbers and accolades help define Garnett’s career in Boston but really they are unable to do it justice. Yeah, Garnett was good for 16 points and 9 rebounds on any given night, but the mentality he instilled in the team was integral to their success.
The 2007-2008 Boston Celtics did not win the championship by outscoring teams. They did it by holding the Atlanta Hawks to 62 points in game 7 of the first round. They did it by holding LeBron James‘ Cleveland Cavaliers to 75 points or fewer three times during their 7-game second-round series.
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The Celtics were a defensive-minded team that was led by Garnett on that end. He was the energizer and the motivator. While Paul Pierce may have been the team’s go-to scorer, Garnett was the heart and soul of the team.
Kevin Garnett’s intensity was renowned around the NBA. Just look at his pre-game head bangs against the basket or listen to the stories about his constant trash talk. If you were on his team you were his brother and if you were on the other side he was going to go at you for 48 minutes. He took Rajon Rondo under his wing in that regard. In part that’s why it was impossible to count out the Celtics from 2009-2012.
One series I’ll personally never forget is the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat. This aging Celtics team really had no business beating a Heat team at the peak of their powers.
However, after going down 2-0 in the series, the Celtics battled back to win 3 straight games behind the play of Rondo and Garnett. Without one of LeBron’s greatest performances of all time in game 6, the Celtics probably find themselves in another NBA finals.
Garnett was 35 years old and averaged 19.2 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game over the entirety of the 2012 playoffs. He did so while bringing All-NBA level defense and unprecedented leadership every single night.
2007-2008 was a pretty magical run that resulted in a 66-16 regular season record and an NBA championship in the first season of the “Big 3” Celtics. It was impressive how quickly Garnett, Pierce, and Ray Allen were able to mesh with one another.
After defeating the late great Kobe Bryant‘s Los Angeles Lakers in an unforgettable 7-game series, Garnett capped it off with his emotional “Anything is possible” speech.
Garnett loved to be a Celtic and he embodied it every time he took the court. Six years might not be a long time, but it was plenty for Garnett to leave his imprint on Boston Celtics history. #5 will be rightfully raised to the rafters soon enough, but until then we are left with his parting gifts. The rights to draft Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.