Kevin Garnett has never been one to shy away from speaking his mind, either on the court or after retirement.
The Celtics legend and NBA Hall of Famer spoke candidly about one prevailing theory surrounding the Boston Celtics in the 2023-24 season.
Boston is 12-2 in the playoffs this season and on track for their second NBA Finals appearance in three seasons, yet many media pundits and outlets continue to relentlessly criticize the good fortune that has befallen the Celtics during this successful run.
In their three-series victories against the Heat (46 wins), Cavaliers (48 wins) and Pacers (47 wins), the Celtics benefited from several key opponents being absent due to injury, including Jimmy Butler (Heat), Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers), Jarrett Allen (Cavaliers) and Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers).
Of course, the top-seeded Celtics also won the Eastern Conference without the help of Kristaps Porzingis, who has missed the past 10 games with a calf injury suffered in Game 4 against the Heat.
But Boston's playoff trajectory this season has been a regular topic of discussion over the past week, in terms of whether the Celtics can continue as an elite championship team.
Garnett, who blasted the rhetoric alongside former Celtics star Paul Pierce on the latest episode of the “Tickets & The Truth” podcast, wasn't convinced.
“I think everybody wants this big (expletive) drama or whatever because every other series is like this,” Garnett said. “'Oh, when LeBron (James) did it, when Kobe (Bryant) did it, when Michael Jordan did it.' Look, their path is their path. First of all, it's not the Celtics' fault if guys get hurt or don't play or are out of the lineup. Other pro players come in and play hard as (expletive) and still try to win. And then to close out a game on the road? I don't know what everybody wants.”
While Boston's run thus far hasn't been particularly dramatic, the Celtics have won some close games and have come from behind on multiple occasions, most notably during their four-game winning streak against the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
“Everybody wants to have this heart-wrenching drama and go seven games,” Garnett said. “No, that's not this scenario. Their scenario is they're nearly 16 games better than any team in the Eastern Conference, they're dominating your team, and then they lose 18 games on the road.
“They think they can just press a button and all of a sudden it's gonna be tied. No. You have to win on the road, but it's just as hard to win on the road as (expletive), and it's even harder to beat the other team. But all that other (expletive) is out of their control, they can't control it. Get the (expletive) out of here. This is reality.”
Garnett wasn't the only one to defend the Celtics and their rivals in this season's playoffs. Warriors forward Draymond Green also spoke on his podcast last week to dispute rumors that Boston was untested.
“[Critics say] “They're game-deficit guys,” Green said. “Whether they go to the NBA Finals and win or lose is not going to be because they're game-deficit. I'll be very clear with you, you can't go to the NBA Finals and not have game-deficit the whole year. That's not going to happen, that's not going to happen, that's not going to happen this time.”
Loading…
