KG: Loyal & Petty to a Fault

[Ed Monix]

Recently after a Celtics instagram page (bostoncelts4eva) posted a throwback photo of Garnett, Rondo, Pierce & Allen entering the 2011 All-Star Game together, KG has reposted the picture…but only after cropped out Allen.

In a chaotic world of variables, KG is a sturdy constant lol.

Garnett’s Post:



Original Post:

[celticsclay]

I like it. I also wonder if Allen had to do it all over again he would still sign with the heat. It feels like he is almost more known for leaving the celtics than he is for the ring he won with the heat at this point. (Even though he hit a huge shot)

[Ed Monix]

I like it. I also wonder if Allen had to do it all over again he would still sign with the heat. It feels like he is almost more known for leaving the celtics than he is for the ring he won with the heat at this point. (Even though he hit a huge shot)

Who knows how Ray’s mind works.

I think it wasn’t just Allen jumping ship to the Heat that irked KG, there was more to the rift.

I’ve read that Ray wasn’t interested in being friends or even friendly regarding his teammates. If one of the Celtics had a charity function, the whole team would usually go…except Ray, and he’d almost always keep to himself on the bus or plane too. So perhaps Allen is just a loner type of guy, which didn’t mesh with Garnett’s team first attitude.

There is also the issue of Ainge going to Garnett, Pierce & Allen to ask if they would take issue with management putting Rondo in trade discussions. Apparently Garnett & Pierce were vehemently against the idea but Allen said the team should.

[celticsclay]

I like it. I also wonder if Allen had to do it all over again he would still sign with the heat. It feels like he is almost more known for leaving the celtics than he is for the ring he won with the heat at this point. (Even though he hit a huge shot)

Who knows how Ray’s mind works.

I think it wasn’t just Allen jumping ship to the Heat that irked KG, there was more to the rift.

I’ve read that Ray wasn’t interested in being friends or even friendly regarding his teammates. If one of the Celtics had a charity function, the whole team would usually go…except Ray, and he’d almost always keep to himself on the bus or plane too. So perhaps Allen is just a loner type of guy, which didn’t mesh with Garnett’s team first attitude.

There is also the issue of Ainge going to Garnett, Pierce & Allen to ask if they would take issue with management putting Rondo in trade discussions. Apparently Garnett & Pierce were vehemently against the idea but Allen said the team should.

Wasn’t part of the ire also that he made the move without even giving them a heads up?

[Ed Monix]

I like it. I also wonder if Allen had to do it all over again he would still sign with the heat. It feels like he is almost more known for leaving the celtics than he is for the ring he won with the heat at this point. (Even though he hit a huge shot)

Who knows how Ray’s mind works.

I think it wasn’t just Allen jumping ship to the Heat that irked KG, there was more to the rift.

I’ve read that Ray wasn’t interested in being friends or even friendly regarding his teammates. If one of the Celtics had a charity function, the whole team would usually go…except Ray, and he’d almost always keep to himself on the bus or plane too. So perhaps Allen is just a loner type of guy, which didn’t mesh with Garnett’s team first attitude.

There is also the issue of Ainge going to Garnett, Pierce & Allen to ask if they would take issue with management putting Rondo in trade discussions. Apparently Garnett & Pierce were vehemently against the idea but Allen said the team should.

Wasn’t part of the ire also that he made the move without even giving them a heads up?

Yes sorry you’re right.

I’d say that factors into the issues, but it was probably a byproduct of the building tension.

If I remember correctly, Ainge was looking at trades involved Ray and he’d lost his starting position to Avery Bradley too. So perhaps him not telling anyone about his move to Miami was a big up yours to everyone.

[Roy H.]

I like it. I also wonder if Allen had to do it all over again he would still sign with the heat. It feels like he is almost more known for leaving the celtics than he is for the ring he won with the heat at this point. (Even though he hit a huge shot)

Who knows how Ray’s mind works.

I think it wasn’t just Allen jumping ship to the Heat that irked KG, there was more to the rift.

I’ve read that Ray wasn’t interested in being friends or even friendly regarding his teammates. If one of the Celtics had a charity function, the whole team would usually go…except Ray, and he’d almost always keep to himself on the bus or plane too. So perhaps Allen is just a loner type of guy, which didn’t mesh with Garnett’s team first attitude.

There is also the issue of Ainge going to Garnett, Pierce & Allen to ask if they would take issue with management putting Rondo in trade discussions. Apparently Garnett & Pierce were vehemently against the idea but Allen said the team should.

Yeah, Pierce addressed this years later:

    "It was a weird relationship,'' Pierce conceded. "We were all good friends on the court, but Ray always did his own thing. That's just the way Ray was. Even when we were playing together, we'd be having a team dinner and Ray wouldn't show up. We'd go to his charity events but Ray wouldn't show up to somebody else's.

    "I called him on it. I said, 'Man, Ray, we support all your stuff but when we ask you, you don't come to ours.' I remember when Rondo re-signed with Boston, we had a little dinner at a restaurant and Ray didn't show up.

    "I know Ray probably didn't like Rondo that much, but it wasn't a fact of not liking somebody. You don't have to like everybody you play with -- it's a matter of showing support.

    "Rondo probably didn't like Ray either, but he came to Ray's functions to show, 'Hey, we're together in this.'

    "It's not a bad thing with Ray. We had a great relationship on the court. But even the year we won it, after a game we'd say, 'Let's go have something to eat and have a night with the older guys.' We'd get there and it would be me, Kevin and Sam (Cassell), but no Ray. In a lot of ways, me, Sam and Kevin were our Big Three.

    "It just got to the point where it was, 'That's Ray.' No hard feelings. Everyone made such a big deal of us not talking after we left, but there really wasn't much there.''

As for KG, he's got his own personality challenges.  As you noted, he's fiercely loyal, but if you upset him once you're dead to him.

[Ed Monix]

I like it. I also wonder if Allen had to do it all over again he would still sign with the heat. It feels like he is almost more known for leaving the celtics than he is for the ring he won with the heat at this point. (Even though he hit a huge shot)

Who knows how Ray’s mind works.

I think it wasn’t just Allen jumping ship to the Heat that irked KG, there was more to the rift.

I’ve read that Ray wasn’t interested in being friends or even friendly regarding his teammates. If one of the Celtics had a charity function, the whole team would usually go…except Ray, and he’d almost always keep to himself on the bus or plane too. So perhaps Allen is just a loner type of guy, which didn’t mesh with Garnett’s team first attitude.

There is also the issue of Ainge going to Garnett, Pierce & Allen to ask if they would take issue with management putting Rondo in trade discussions. Apparently Garnett & Pierce were vehemently against the idea but Allen said the team should.

Yeah, Pierce addressed this years later:

    "It was a weird relationship,'' Pierce conceded. "We were all good friends on the court, but Ray always did his own thing. That's just the way Ray was. Even when we were playing together, we'd be having a team dinner and Ray wouldn't show up. We'd go to his charity events but Ray wouldn't show up to somebody else's.

    "I called him on it. I said, 'Man, Ray, we support all your stuff but when we ask you, you don't come to ours.' I remember when Rondo re-signed with Boston, we had a little dinner at a restaurant and Ray didn't show up.

    "I know Ray probably didn't like Rondo that much, but it wasn't a fact of not liking somebody. You don't have to like everybody you play with -- it's a matter of showing support.

    "Rondo probably didn't like Ray either, but he came to Ray's functions to show, 'Hey, we're together in this.'

    "It's not a bad thing with Ray. We had a great relationship on the court. But even the year we won it, after a game we'd say, 'Let's go have something to eat and have a night with the older guys.' We'd get there and it would be me, Kevin and Sam (Cassell), but no Ray. In a lot of ways, me, Sam and Kevin were our Big Three.

    "It just got to the point where it was, 'That's Ray.' No hard feelings. Everyone made such a big deal of us not talking after we left, but there really wasn't much there.''

As for KG, he's got his own personality challenges.  As you noted, he's fiercely loyal, but if you upset him once you're dead to him.

Yes exactly!

I mean even after all the losing with the Timberwolves, Kevin McHale had to convince Garnett to accept the trade to Boston. That is loyalty to a fault.

Heck, recently when his financial manager was being charged with fraud after stealing from Tim Duncan, KG turned up to court in support of his manager…then would later find out that he too had been swindled out of millions.

[Ed Monix]

I do believe Garnett’s pettiness is a common character trait that’s consistent with every NBA superstar. IMO this is what’s lacking from Brown & Tatum’s game.

For example, in 1989, when Larry Bird was past his prime and the Celtics were on the decline, Bird could find a reason to become enraged or petty.

Recently an interviewer asked Shawn Kemp who was the first person in the NBA to “bust his ass”. Kemp replied,

“We were playing the Boston Celtics, so the great Larry Bird. I’m from Indiana and Larry’s from Indiana. I knew about the history of Larry but I didn’t realize how he got down…Larry gave me 40 in three quarters. And he talked to me the whole entire game. He asked me at the jump ball ‘You’re the one that broke all my records in high school right? And I said, ‘Yeah, that’s me’. He replied ‘And you’re the one who use to dunk on my brother too right, Andy? And I said, ‘Yeah that’s me’, Bird finally said, ‘I’ve got something for you tonight’.”

Bird finished the game with 40-11-10

Highlights: https://youtu.be/0a0cXeN2Hug

[Ogaju]

I do believe Garnett’s pettiness is a common character trait that’s consistent with every NBA superstar. IMO this is what’s lacking from Brown & Tatum’s game.

For example, in 1989, when Larry Bird was past his prime and the Celtics were on the decline, Bird could find a reason to become enraged or petty.

Recently an interviewer asked Shawn Kemp who was the first person in the NBA to “bust his ass”. Kemp replied,

“We were playing the Boston Celtics, so the great Larry Bird. I’m from Indiana and Larry’s from Indiana. I knew about the history of Larry but I didn’t realize how he got down…Larry gave me 40 in three quarters. And he talked to me the whole entire game. He asked me at the jump ball ‘You’re the one that broke all my records in high school right? And I said, ‘Yeah, that’s me’. He replied ‘And you’re the one who use to dunk on my brother too right, Andy? And I said, ‘Yeah that’s me’, Bird finally said, ‘I’ve got something for you tonight’.”

that is an awesome story.

[Ed Monix]

I do believe Garnett’s pettiness is a common character trait that’s consistent with every NBA superstar. IMO this is what’s lacking from Brown & Tatum’s game.

For example, in 1989, when Larry Bird was past his prime and the Celtics were on the decline, Bird could find a reason to become enraged or petty.

Recently an interviewer asked Shawn Kemp who was the first person in the NBA to “bust his ass”. Kemp replied,

“We were playing the Boston Celtics, so the great Larry Bird. I’m from Indiana and Larry’s from Indiana. I knew about the history of Larry but I didn’t realize how he got down…Larry gave me 40 in three quarters. And he talked to me the whole entire game. He asked me at the jump ball ‘You’re the one that broke all my records in high school right? And I said, ‘Yeah, that’s me’. He replied ‘And you’re the one who use to dunk on my brother too right, Andy? And I said, ‘Yeah that’s me’, Bird finally said, ‘I’ve got something for you tonight’.”

that is an awesome story.

Haha yeah definitely, Kemp also talked about how that game when Bird was defending him he would tell Kemp what he was going to do when he went down the other side of the court.

Kemp said that after a while he thought I am just going foul Bird so hard, like playing street ball, but Larry just started using his left hand instead and then would slap Kemp on the butt after he’d scored haha.

Apparently after the game Bird complimented Kemp on his defensive effort and he’s welcome to come to his house in the summer…and maybe someone will teach Kemp how to shoot the ball.

[radiohead]

I do believe Garnett’s pettiness is a common character trait that’s consistent with every NBA superstar. IMO this is what’s lacking from Brown & Tatum’s game.

For example, in 1989, when Larry Bird was past his prime and the Celtics were on the decline, Bird could find a reason to become enraged or petty.

Recently an interviewer asked Shawn Kemp who was the first person in the NBA to “bust his ass”. Kemp replied,

“We were playing the Boston Celtics, so the great Larry Bird. I’m from Indiana and Larry’s from Indiana. I knew about the history of Larry but I didn’t realize how he got down…Larry gave me 40 in three quarters. And he talked to me the whole entire game. He asked me at the jump ball ‘You’re the one that broke all my records in high school right? And I said, ‘Yeah, that’s me’. He replied ‘And you’re the one who use to dunk on my brother too right, Andy? And I said, ‘Yeah that’s me’, Bird finally said, ‘I’ve got something for you tonight’.”

Bird finished the game with 40-11-10

Highlights: https://youtu.be/0a0cXeN2Hug

I didn’t know Larry had a brother who played basketball. Apparently it’s Eddie and not Andy, and he played for the Kings’ summer league team in 1991. Cool story.

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/the-legend-of-eddie-bird-larrys-younger-brother-who-broke-one-of-his-older-brothers-scoring-records/

[Ed Monix]

I do believe Garnett’s pettiness is a common character trait that’s consistent with every NBA superstar. IMO this is what’s lacking from Brown & Tatum’s game.

For example, in 1989, when Larry Bird was past his prime and the Celtics were on the decline, Bird could find a reason to become enraged or petty.

Recently an interviewer asked Shawn Kemp who was the first person in the NBA to “bust his ass”. Kemp replied,

“We were playing the Boston Celtics, so the great Larry Bird. I’m from Indiana and Larry’s from Indiana. I knew about the history of Larry but I didn’t realize how he got down…Larry gave me 40 in three quarters. And he talked to me the whole entire game. He asked me at the jump ball ‘You’re the one that broke all my records in high school right? And I said, ‘Yeah, that’s me’. He replied ‘And you’re the one who use to dunk on my brother too right, Andy? And I said, ‘Yeah that’s me’, Bird finally said, ‘I’ve got something for you tonight’.”

Bird finished the game with 40-11-10

Highlights: https://youtu.be/0a0cXeN2Hug

I didn’t know Larry had a brother who played basketball. Apparently it’s Eddie and not Andy, and he played for the Kings’ summer league team in 1991. Cool story.

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/the-legend-of-eddie-bird-larrys-younger-brother-who-broke-one-of-his-older-brothers-scoring-records/

Oh okay thanks for the correction.

Sorry, I was just repeating what Kemp talked about, given it happened over 30 years ago he’s obviously forgotten his name.

[hpantazo]

It's pretty ironic that in the end the only two guys out of that group to have two rings are Ray Allen and Rondo

[hpantazo]

This is...interesting:

https://twitter.com/KevinGarnett5KG/status/328852293057388544

BostonCelticsForever Retweeted

Kevin Garnett
@KevinGarnett5KG
The Real #Big3 Rondo get well Soon bro! #AllStars

[Moranis]

KG is an ****.  He played like one on the court and holds grudges like one off the court.  He always has been and always will be.  That is probably some of the reason he has been so successful as that stuff fuels him.  It works for all sorts of all time greats in all sorts of sports, but as we just saw with Giannis there are lots of different ways you can lead a team to the promised land.  I much prefer the Giannis style to that of KG or Jordan or the countless other ****s that reach the ultimate level of success.