The Boston Celtics would not have won Banner 17 in 2008 without trading for Hall of Fame big man Kevin Garnett in 2007 to join recently-added star shooting guard Ray Allen and longtime Celtics star forward Paul Pierce to form a “Big Three” in Boston the summer prior.
The title was Boston’s first since Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Danny Ainge were wearing green in white in 1986. The Big Ticket helped reset the team culture to what the previous 16 banners were built on. But it wasn’t just culture-building that set KG apart as an all-time great — his intensity, basketball IQ, shooting and passing combined with his unreal mobility and timing on defense made him a truly generational talent.
His peers loved him or hated him, but all of them respected him, as can be heard in this latest video produced by the CLNS Media podcast “Basketball Time Machine.”
Give it a watch to hear for yourself how the South Carolinian was seen by his fellow NBAers in his prime.
This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
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