"We've waited too long and it's time to announce it." The Celtics announced today that the team will officially retire the jersey for Kevin Garnett when he plays against the Lone Ranger on March 14, 2022, Beijing time.
As early as February 14, 2020, during the Celtics' game against the Clippers, the Celtics announced this blockbuster news to the fans at the time, saying that the team was retiring Garnett's jersey. It's just because of the epidemic that the Celtics waited for a full season before next season, Garnett was at the TD North Shore Garden Arena, enjoying the standing cheers of tens of thousands of fans, and the retired jersey in a more grand and imposing scene. Today, we're going to talk about Garnett's Time in the Green Army and who in the League is most like Garnett.
The Celtic before Garnett came
Compared to his long 12 years with the Timberwolves (not counting the twilight years of 38 or 39 years), Garnett spent not long with the Celtics, only 6 seasons, during which Garnett averaged 15.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. He won the league's best defensive player in 2008, was selected to the All-Star Team five times, defended twice, defended one team twice, defended the second team once, once led the team to the Finals twice, and lifted the championship trophy once.
This stat sheet and honor book don't stand out in the history of the god-filled Celtics, but we don't know how great Garnett is when we know how dark the Celtics have been before trading to Garnett.
On October 28, 2006, the founder of the Celtic dynasty, Cardinal Auerbach, had a heart attack and died at the age of 89, and the Celtics have never seen the lit cigar on the sidelines since. This seems to be a harbinger of the season for the Celtics, who lost six of their first seven games, and despite a five-game winning streak in December, the team's top star, Pierce, happened to have a stress fracture in his left foot after playing a winning streak, and the Celtics record plummeted, winning just three of their 42 games after Pierce's injury, including an 18-game losing streak, and notably the team's rising star Tony Allen also suffered a devastating injury to a torn cruciate ligament in his left knee during this period. On February 22, 2007, another Celtic star Dennis Johnson had a heart attack and died at the age of 52.
The Celtics simply kept their minds on it, allowing Pierce to rest in April. They had intended to turn things around next season by selecting Auden or Durant in the draft, but even luck was not on the side of the Celtics, they played the second worst in the league with 24 wins and 58 losses (and the second worst in team history after 15 wins in the 96-97 season), but they missed a genius like Duncan in 97, only drew the fifth pick in the draw, from beginning to end, a defeat, a season, Celtic fans feel that they are cursed.
Garnett reinvented the Celtics
Garnett was also sullen at the Timberwolves, with the team only 33 wins, and he knew that if he didn't go, he might lose his life and the championship. The Timberwolves knew they couldn't keep Garnett, so they negotiated a big deal with the Celtics, the Celtics traded Garnett for the high price of al-Jefferson and two 2009 first-round picks, and then Angie used his fifth pick and Deron West to exchange for ray Allen for the main trade chips, Garnett traded to the Celtics and signed a 3-year, 60 million contracts with the team, Celtics fans experienced what is called from hell to heaven that summer, The team went from being the worst team in the league to a championship-contending team.
Garnett didn't choose the No. 21 jersey from the Timberwolves because it belonged to Bill Shaman, who chose the No. 5 jersey. The No. 5 and No. 21 are no different, Garnett is passionate from the field to the court, treating every training game as a playoff, he whips every young teammate so that they can't relax and dedicate all his passion and energy on the court; he himself leads by example, checking and filling in the gaps for each teammate's defense on the court.
Garnett's biggest change to the Celtics was the defense. No matter which five people on the team are on the pitch, they are all united like a honeycomb, they know what their specific goals are, when to pack, when to change defenses and squeeze cover. Garnett worked in the details, paying attention to every action of the other side, ruthlessly sweeping and assisting in the three-point line, not giving the other side any opportunity.
In the 07-08 season, the Celtics were the first in the league in defensive efficiency and the second lowest in the league to lose points, and Garnett was the player with the highest defensive efficiency value in the league. At the end of the season, Garnett was uncontroversially voted the league's best defensive player. In the MVP selection, he is also second only to Kobe Bryant and Paul.
The Celtics improved from 24 to 66, and Garnett completely changed the temperament of the team, turning the Green Army generals into a group of wolves. In that year's playoffs, Garnett played 16 double-doubles, second only to O'Neal's 19 and 22 in league history at the time. The Green Army beat the Lakers 4-2 in the Finals. Garnett's indulgence of "anything is possible" became one of the most classic pictures in the history of the Green Army.
Celtic boss Wyc Grousbeck announced his retirement of Garnett's jersey last year: "We knew in 2008 that sooner or later we would retire his jersey. Since he came here, I don't want to say that he did it on his own because we relied on the efforts of the team, but he really changed everything. Whenever he's on the pitch, it always brings us energy, motivation, passion, and I've never seen anyone like him in 17 years. His number has been retired since then, but we are honored to be able to announce it today. ”
Who in the league is most like Garnett?
If there is anyone in the league who is most like Garnett, I think it is the alphabet brother. The same selection by small teams, the same vow to bring a championship to their city. Both of them experienced the experience of being alone at the beginning of their careers, but fortunately, The Alphabet Brother also grew up with Middleton, and the team also came to Holliday last year with a thousand gold transactions, and put together a very competitive lineup, and the big three took shape and immediately won the championship. At the age of 26, Brother Alphabet has already received two MVPs and one FMVP.
During Garnett's Timberwolves years, the team could only find Spreeville and Cassel in his twilight years. Even though the helpers weren't too good, Garnett won the 2004 MVP and led the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals. If the Timberwolves could persuade Marbury to accept a slightly lower contract and ask Gugliotta not to go to the Suns, would Garnett also be like this year's Alphabet Brother?
After March 14 next year, I believe Garnett fans will also look forward to the day when the No. 21 jersey is raised in the target center. Taylor, the owner who has a vendetta against Garnett, has sold the team, and what is there that he can't live with?