Garnett: We have to be tough

Share

BOSTON -- Kevin Garnett is all about analogies and similes in his postgame interviews. But when head coach Doc Rivers called the Boston Celtics "soft" following their loss to (and fight with) the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, that was one reference Garnett was not a fan of using.

"I don't know any man that likes to be called soft," he said after Friday's win over the Portland Trail Blazers. "Maybe some women."

Rivers had reacted to the Celtics effort against the Nets and the second quarter altercation which resulted in the ejection, and subsequent two-game suspension, of Rajon Rondo.
"As a team, that was awful basketball-wise," Rivers said on Wednesday. "I thought, 'If Im
Brooklyn and the league, youve got to think were pretty soft the way were playing.' Were a
soft team right now, we have no toughness. That stuffs not toughness. All that stuff, thats not toughness.

The Celtics (9-7) bounced back from their loss to the Nets with a 96-78 victory over the Trail
Blazers (6-10). Garnett didn't like Rivers' message, but the team got it loud and clear.

"I think collectively he's talking about our style and obviously our offensive rebounds," Garnett said. "I don't think he's coming at us as men, but he's talking about our style as a whole. Collectively, we all have to do that together. The onus falls on each and every last one of us, not just one or two.

"But yeah, that was disturbing. Who likes to be called soft in anything, if you're a man?

Contact Us