BOSTON – When Kevin Garnett decides to call it quits and walk away from the game, there will be a plethora of well-wishes by many showered upon the future Hall of Famer.
Many of the voices and influences who helped shape Garnett into the player and person he is, can be heard in this oral history of Garnett on Bleacher Report.
It chronicles his eye-popping workout that left NBA teams in a bind as to whether they should draft the high school phenom or go the “safe” route and draft one of the top college players.
One of the more telling moments that Celtics Nation saw up close was the chemistry that Garnett had with Paul Pierce.
Danny Ainge and his former Celtics teammate (and GM of the Minnesota Timberwolves at the time) Kevin McHale saw this as well.
“Because Kevin (McHale, now head coach of the Houston Rockets) and I were such close friends, we had numerous conversations over the years [about Garnett],” said Ainge in the oral history piece. “We realized that Paul [Pierce] and KG would be a great combination. We thought that they really complemented each other well. So we discussed the possibility of Paul going to Minnesota or KG coming to Boston, like which way is the best way to do it.”
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Boston Celtics
According to Ainge, it was indeed discussed and fortunately for Boston didn’t go any further than that.
Bad luck and injuries limited Garnett and the Celtics to claiming just one NBA title, in 2008.
But as Ainge sees it, Garnett provided something just as valuable.
“Kevin, he gave hope to our franchise every day for six years,” Ainge said.