The last time that the Boston Celtics won a championship was in 2008. At the time, the Celtics were the chart leaders with the most NBA titles for a franchise. However, the highly acclaimed win in 2008 might not have happened if the Warriors didn’t make a poor trade decision. Recently, NBA veteran Mitch Richmond was on the ‘All the Smoke’ podcast where he talked about the ‘We Believe’ Warriors era and the Kevin Garnett trade.
Advertisement
KG was drafted in the league by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1995 where he stayed till 2007. After that, it was time for him to switch teams and as one of the best players in the league at the time, KG was in demand. Several teams wanted to bring him in, and the Warriors led that race for some time. In fact, Garnett also wanted to go to Golden State. However, as things turned out, KG’s negotiation with the Dub Nation had a fallout and he went on to play for the Celtics and won their last championship.
Richmond said, “We had KG and KG wanted to come and we were like, man, that’s all we need…We’re gonna keep the core of our guys and I can remember we talked about it and they said no we can’t do it.”
The 2002 NBA champion said that since the NBA Draft night was approaching, the Warriors management was concerned about the contract with KG and the extra money they would have to put up to get him.
Unfortunately for the Dubs, the Celtics were there at the right time, and they didn’t hesitate to sign KG. Further, he immediately paid them off by winning the title that very season.
The ‘We Believe Warriors’ team and Stephen Curry
This campaign was a real hit among the fans as they rallied behind their team. Maybe it was the added motivation of this campaign that helped the Warriors clinch their first playoff berth in over 12 years. For a brief period, everyone believed that the Warriors were going to cause a major upset in the league, sadly, their championship dream couldn’t become a real thing. But the franchise, starving for a trophy since 1975, was about to experience a dramatic change.
The Warriors drafted Stephen Curry in 2009 and six years later, he won his first and the franchise’s fourth title. The Dubs Nation was released from the curse after 40 long years, thanks to the domination of the Splash Brothers. In the next seven years, Steph led the Warriors to three more titles and helped create the Warriors Dynasty as we know it today. It is tough to imagine their legacy if they had gone ahead on the KG trade.
