On the latest episode of KG: Certified, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce hosted the Boston Celtics’ All-Star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. At one point in the episode, Pierce and Garnett spoke about how the Celtics’ former executive director of Basketball Operations – Danny Ainge – orchestrated a blockbuster trade in 2013, sending them to represent the Brooklyn Nets. Even though the 2008 NBA champs were at the tail end of their career, they had faith in overcoming the Miami Heat in the postseason. Joe Johnson also chimed in, shedding light on the sensational Game 4 performance that LeBron James had against them in the second round of the 2014 playoffs.
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My favorite Kevin Garnett highlight pic.twitter.com/ez9p0MqDHD
— (@HeatvsHaters) May 19, 2019
The 2013-2014 Brooklyn Nets was a solid team, filled with some big names. Besides Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce leading the pack, the roster included Joe Johnson, Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko, and Jason Terry. The star-studded team finished the regular season with an impressive 44-38 record, good enough to clinch the #6 seed in the Eastern Conference.
After defeating the Toronto Raptors in the opening round of the postseason, Jason Kidd’s boys were set to face the Miami Heat in the Conference Semifinals. Because the Nets had already defeated the Florida side in all four of their regular season matchups, Pierce and KG felt good about their chances. The following is what they said on the matter recently.
“We actually thought we could win it in Brooklyn… We beat Miami four times that year during the regular season. So we thought when we get them in the playoffs, we can get them because we had Joe Johnson, Deron Williams. So we thought this was going to extend us a little more. But it didn’t work that way,” Pierce said.
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Joe Johnson decided to give his two cents on the discussed topic as well. In the comments section of the post, the 42-year-old recollected the stellar performance that James had, especially in Game 4 of that series.
Dam! Bron had that crazy game 4 fellas smdh! We had a good chance…
Joe Johnson on the Nets losing to LeBron and the Nets in the Playoffs pic.twitter.com/zpFwqVGKRI
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) February 8, 2024
At no point in the series did the Miami Heat feel intimidated by the Nets, despite having a 0-4 regular season record against them in that campaign. LeBron James recorded a staggering 30 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game to lead the Miami Heat to a 4-1 series win.
King James had the best performance of the series in Game 4. On 12th May 2014, the 6ft 9” forward played for 43:28 minutes and erupted for 49 points on 66.7% shooting from the field. Ultimately, LBJ finished the postseason with an impressive stat line – 27.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 4.8 assists.
Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce believe that LeBron James is the GOAT
Representing the Boston Celtics for a large part of their careers, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were eliminated in the postseason by LeBron James on numerous occasions. Despite James being a huge reason that the duo never won more than one title, they were humble enough to appreciate James’ greatness.
Back in the 2022-2023 season, LeBron James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. By adding such a big record under his belt, Pierce and Garnett admitted that Bron had surpassed Michael Jordan for the prestigious GOAT title.
Paul: This conversation, man… He might be the GOAT. I think that right there, probably solidified it. And this is the reason why – he put himself in a place, where I don’t see nobody passing him in our lifetime in scoring.
Garnett: I mean, we put Cat (Michael Jordan) when Cat was King of Kings. It is what it is, this is the changing of the guard of everything we’ve known the game to be and this is the first part of the transition of now Bron being king of the hill.
The Hall-Of-Famers aren’t making any preposterous claims. Having played at the highest level for more than 20 years, James has racked up one of the most decorated resumes in NBA history – 20 All-Star appearances, 19 All-NBA selections, four MVPs, four championships, four Finals MVPs, among numerous other accolades. At age 39, James still seems to have a lot left in his tank. Certainly, the future Hall-Of-Famer will add a few more silverware to his trophy cabinet before retiring.
