Kevin Garnett's #5 to be retired by the Celtics on March 13

[tonydelk]

We've debated this before, but KG does not belong in the rafters.

We've also debated your irrational hatred of KG before

His impact on the entire organization merits this honor.

100%  he instilled our current culture with grit, fight and a do not give up mentality.  That was missing from the team the last few years since kyrie and last years team.  Kg absolutely deserves to have his number retired.  He's a true celtic and if you can't see that then go root for Brooklyn.

[PAOBoston]

We've debated this before, but KG does not belong in the rafters.

This is the correct answer. He really shouldn’t but based off the way the Cs operate he fits their criteria. The Cs literally retire everyone’s number. It makes the act of retiring a number meaningless. KG was awesome when he was here but not here long enough imo.

[gouki88]

We've debated this before, but KG does not belong in the rafters.

This is the correct answer. He really shouldn’t but based off the way the Cs operate he fits their criteria. The Cs literally retire everyone’s number. It makes the act of retiring a number meaningless. KG was awesome when he was here but not here long enough imo.

It's meaningless? Tell that to all the players up there. Tell that to their families, teammates and coaches.

What on earth do random fans know about the meaning behind a retired number over the actual players?

[celts10]

We've debated this before, but KG does not belong in the rafters.

Agreed. I love KG, but he wasn’t in Boston long enough and the C’s only got one ring while he was here. Should Rondo and Perk get there numbers retired too? Wouldn’t have one banner 17 without them either.

The quality of play of KG, and his importance to the team, dwarfs that of Perkins.  It's not close, and to suggest it's only about the number of years on a team and whether a ring was won is silly.  Being great actually matters.  Finishing top 3 in MVP award voting during a title season should, in fact, matter.   Setting the culture of the team matters.

An argument could be made for Rondo, and that may in fact happen once he's done playing, but while he had a couple of absolutely terrific seasons, he was a notch less than KG.  Obviously his last half-season in Boston was disappointing as well, and tarnished his legacy a bit.  Perhaps he comes back in a year and is a model vet PG off the bench while we win a title and his legacy is re-established.

But comparing KG to Perk is blasphemy.

Obviously KG was more important than Perk, but my point is that he didn’t singlehandedly deliver a championship to Boston. Rondo and Perk played a large role as well and they played in Boston longer. I feel like a player needs to be on the team for more than 5 or 6 years for their number to be retired or they need to have delivered several championships.

I don't really agree with this. You could sub out Rondo and Perk for a dozen other similar level role players. You cannot sub out KG for anyone else and get the same culture transformation that occurred in Boston.

Agreed. We weren't winning titles with Pierce, Allen, and Al Jefferson.

[LilRip]

We've debated this before, but KG does not belong in the rafters.

Agreed. I love KG, but he wasn’t in Boston long enough and the C’s only got one ring while he was here. Should Rondo and Perk get there numbers retired too? Wouldn’t have one banner 17 without them either.

The quality of play of KG, and his importance to the team, dwarfs that of Perkins.  It's not close, and to suggest it's only about the number of years on a team and whether a ring was won is silly.  Being great actually matters.  Finishing top 3 in MVP award voting during a title season should, in fact, matter.   Setting the culture of the team matters.

An argument could be made for Rondo, and that may in fact happen once he's done playing, but while he had a couple of absolutely terrific seasons, he was a notch less than KG.  Obviously his last half-season in Boston was disappointing as well, and tarnished his legacy a bit.  Perhaps he comes back in a year and is a model vet PG off the bench while we win a title and his legacy is re-established.

But comparing KG to Perk is blasphemy.

Obviously KG was more important than Perk, but my point is that he didn’t singlehandedly deliver a championship to Boston. Rondo and Perk played a large role as well and they played in Boston longer. I feel like a player needs to be on the team for more than 5 or 6 years for their number to be retired or they need to have delivered several championships.

I don't really agree with this. You could sub out Rondo and Perk for a dozen other similar level role players. You cannot sub out KG for anyone else and get the same culture transformation that occurred in Boston.

Agreed. We weren't winning titles with Pierce, Allen, and Al Jefferson.

Lol true. And yet, people loved Big Al. He was supposed to be the future! IIRC, the board was split when the trade went down and we “gutted” our roster for a guy on the wrong side of 30

[Ogaju]

We've debated this before, but KG does not belong in the rafters.

We've also debated your irrational hatred of KG before

I don't have a hatred of KG and nothing I say is irrational.  KG played only 396 regular season games in Boston along with 84 playoff games.  That just isn't enough.  Ray Allen played in 358 regular season games and actually played in more playoff games at 91.  Should he be in the rafters?  We certainly don't win a title without Ray Allen.  The C's don't get KG without Allen, Allen was a monster in the Finals scoring 122 points on just 73 shots, and that season after Allen left Boston fell apart (showing his value in actual meaningful ways).  Allen's shooting was vital to the success of the team.  Why isn't he going in the rafters?

Because he is a traitor? You asked….lol

[Ogaju]

We've debated this before, but KG does not belong in the rafters.

This is the correct answer. He really shouldn’t but based off the way the Cs operate he fits their criteria. The Cs literally retire everyone’s number. It makes the act of retiring a number meaningless. KG was awesome when he was here but not here long enough imo.

It's meaningless? Tell that to all the players up there. Tell that to their families, teammates and coaches.

What on earth do random fans know about the meaning behind a retired number over the actual players?

lol….team had a lot of great players and they belong up in the rafters. Maybe Ray Allen one day…maybe?

[hpantazo]

We've debated this before, but KG does not belong in the rafters.

This is the correct answer. He really shouldn’t but based off the way the Cs operate he fits their criteria. The Cs literally retire everyone’s number. It makes the act of retiring a number meaningless. KG was awesome when he was here but not here long enough imo.

It's meaningless? Tell that to all the players up there. Tell that to their families, teammates and coaches.

What on earth do random fans know about the meaning behind a retired number over the actual players?

lol….team had a lot of great players and they belong up in the rafters. Maybe Ray Allen one day…maybe?

I wonder if Ray will at least attend KG's ceremony and maybe bury the hatchet with KG, Rondo, and Pierce.

[Goldstar88]

We've debated this before, but KG does not belong in the rafters.

This is the correct answer. He really shouldn’t but based off the way the Cs operate he fits their criteria. The Cs literally retire everyone’s number. It makes the act of retiring a number meaningless. KG was awesome when he was here but not here long enough imo.

It's meaningless? Tell that to all the players up there. Tell that to their families, teammates and coaches.

What on earth do random fans know about the meaning behind a retired number over the actual players?

lol….team had a lot of great players and they belong up in the rafters. Maybe Ray Allen one day…maybe?

I wonder if Ray will at least attend KG's ceremony and maybe bury the hatchet with KG, Rondo, and Pierce.

That ship sailed a long time ago...

[Moranis]

We've debated this before, but KG does not belong in the rafters.

Agreed. I love KG, but he wasn’t in Boston long enough and the C’s only got one ring while he was here. Should Rondo and Perk get there numbers retired too? Wouldn’t have one banner 17 without them either.

The quality of play of KG, and his importance to the team, dwarfs that of Perkins.  It's not close, and to suggest it's only about the number of years on a team and whether a ring was won is silly.  Being great actually matters.  Finishing top 3 in MVP award voting during a title season should, in fact, matter.   Setting the culture of the team matters.

An argument could be made for Rondo, and that may in fact happen once he's done playing, but while he had a couple of absolutely terrific seasons, he was a notch less than KG.  Obviously his last half-season in Boston was disappointing as well, and tarnished his legacy a bit.  Perhaps he comes back in a year and is a model vet PG off the bench while we win a title and his legacy is re-established.

But comparing KG to Perk is blasphemy.

Obviously KG was more important than Perk, but my point is that he didn’t singlehandedly deliver a championship to Boston. Rondo and Perk played a large role as well and they played in Boston longer. I feel like a player needs to be on the team for more than 5 or 6 years for their number to be retired or they need to have delivered several championships.

I don't really agree with this. You could sub out Rondo and Perk for a dozen other similar level role players. You cannot sub out KG for anyone else and get the same culture transformation that occurred in Boston.

Agreed. We weren't winning titles with Pierce, Allen, and Al Jefferson.

We aren't winning the title with Jeff Green instead of Ray Allen either.  If KG did enough, then Allen did enough and the fact that no one mentions Allen is quite telling. 

When Kyrie Irving and Robert Williams are on more Celtics franchise top 10 leaderboards than Kevin Garnett, Kevin Garnett didn't do enough to be in the rafters.  Let that sink in for a minute.

[Jvalin]

I'm probably in the minority, but I think the only players with a retired number should have been Russell, Bird and Reggie Lewis (cause he literally gave his life for the Celtics). No Pierce, no KG, no Tommy, not even Havlicek. Instead of retiring their number, I'd put their name in the rafters, like we've done with Loscy. But that's just me.

KG was obviously amazing. No one's arguing against that.

[BudweiserCeltic]

We've debated this before, but KG does not belong in the rafters.

Agreed. I love KG, but he wasn’t in Boston long enough and the C’s only got one ring while he was here. Should Rondo and Perk get there numbers retired too? Wouldn’t have one banner 17 without them either.

The quality of play of KG, and his importance to the team, dwarfs that of Perkins.  It's not close, and to suggest it's only about the number of years on a team and whether a ring was won is silly.  Being great actually matters.  Finishing top 3 in MVP award voting during a title season should, in fact, matter.   Setting the culture of the team matters.

An argument could be made for Rondo, and that may in fact happen once he's done playing, but while he had a couple of absolutely terrific seasons, he was a notch less than KG.  Obviously his last half-season in Boston was disappointing as well, and tarnished his legacy a bit.  Perhaps he comes back in a year and is a model vet PG off the bench while we win a title and his legacy is re-established.

But comparing KG to Perk is blasphemy.

Obviously KG was more important than Perk, but my point is that he didn’t singlehandedly deliver a championship to Boston. Rondo and Perk played a large role as well and they played in Boston longer. I feel like a player needs to be on the team for more than 5 or 6 years for their number to be retired or they need to have delivered several championships.

I don't really agree with this. You could sub out Rondo and Perk for a dozen other similar level role players. You cannot sub out KG for anyone else and get the same culture transformation that occurred in Boston.

Agreed. We weren't winning titles with Pierce, Allen, and Al Jefferson.

We aren't winning the title with Jeff Green instead of Ray Allen either.  If KG did enough, then Allen did enough and the fact that no one mentions Allen is quite telling. 

When Kyrie Irving and Robert Williams are on more Celtics franchise top 10 leaderboards than Kevin Garnett, Kevin Garnett didn't do enough to be in the rafters.  Let that sink in for a minute.

I let that sink in for more than a minute, and still see no problem with KG up there.

As for Allen, well... he was a traitor, what can I say.

[Somebody]

Well deserved. An MVP calibre year and 3 All-NBA seasons with an All-Star campaign at the end of his 5-6 year stay is massive value to an NBA franchise, especially when the MVP level year brought a championship to the club as the team's best player by a mile. One of the greatest bigs of all time and possibly the best power forward ever

[gouki88]

I'm probably in the minority, but I think the only players with retired numbers should have been Russell, Bird and Reggie Lewis (cause he literally gave his life for the Celtics). No Pierce, no KG, no Tommy, not even Havlicek. Instead of retiring their number, I'd put their name in the rafters, like we've done with Loscy. But that's just me.

KG was obviously amazing. No one's arguing against that.

Why?

[Jvalin]

I'm probably in the minority, but I think the only players with retired numbers should have been Russell, Bird and Reggie Lewis (cause he literally gave his life for the Celtics). No Pierce, no KG, no Tommy, not even Havlicek. Instead of retiring their number, I'd put their name in the rafters, like we've done with Loscy. But that's just me.

KG was obviously amazing. No one's arguing against that.

Why?

Being a european, I'm probably influenced by soccer culture. It's almost impossible to get your number retired in soccer. There are numerous all-time legends who have never seen their number retired. For instance, AC Milan has retired the numbers of only Maldini and Baresi. Both of them spent their entire career with the club. They are considered 2 of the best defenders of all time in soccer. Possibly in the top 3 alongside Franz Beckenbauer. Napoli has retired the number of Maradona. He's arguably the best soccer player of all time. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and numerous other famous clubs have no retired numbers whatsoever.

Retiring a number is the ultimate honor in sports. Imo, it should be reserved only for the best of the best. I get it though: Different sports - different countries/regions of the world - different cultures.