As one of the fiercest competitors, Kevin Garnett loved yapping at his opponents. Upon joining the Celtics in 2008, he paired with Paul Pierce, a well-known trash-talker himself. A young Rajon Rondo was overwhelmed when he saw these two masters pestering opponents, in their unique ways. On the Run It Back podcast, the 2x NBA Champion was asked about the “craziest” piece of trash-talk he heard from KG.
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Considering the NSFW nature of the material, Rondo was hesitant to spill the beans. While pondering about revealing KG’s most intense trash talk moment, he reminisced about Pierce’s treatment of Richard Jefferson which left him bamboozled about what can be uttered on an NBA floor,
“P takes cake for me probably. He said sumn’ crazy to Richard Jefferson at the free-throw line and it was like “Welcome to the League” moment. I was like, ‘This is normal? You can talk to people like that?’”
.@ShamsCharania: “What was the craziest thing you heard [Kevin Garnett] say on the court?”@RajonRondo: “I can say it here?… He said some wild sh**” 😂😂@KevinGarnett5KG | @ChandlerParsons | @MichelleDBeadle | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/Kq8QzRZyCR
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) May 28, 2024
Further, a second-year version of Rondo realized that the NBA landscape has no limits on verbal interactions. Playing with the two of the nastiest trash-talkers, molded him into a fiercer competitor. Moreover, the Celtics’ culture under KG saw a radical transformation.
Kevin Garnett brought tenacity to the Celtics’ locker room culture
On his KG Certified podcast, the 2008 DPOY revealed an effective strategy to derail his opponents. Before the game, he urged his teammates to let out a war cry, akin to the Spartans in the movie ‘300’. He made sure that his opponents heard the rallying call, which even revved up his teammates in pre-game situations.
While Garnett is known for being a hype-man, Pierce’s trash-talking is a lore of its own. During the 2003 playoffs, the amped-up Celtics Wing was going at it against the Pacers’ Wing Al Harrington.
As Harrington picked him up on the perimeter, the high-quality clutch player looked into his eyes and let him know that he couldn’t stop him. He walked the talk by burying a three-pointer, making for one of the most memorable playoff moments.
Thus, Rondo’s early journey was fueled by two of the most ferocious competitors and it boded well for his future. While he didn’t talk trash like them, he could hold his own when someone was going at him as those early lessons made him numb to such situations.
