Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were teammates for eight seasons in the NBA, winning a championship together with the Boston Celtics in 2008. In 2013, when both were past their prime, they were traded to the Brooklyn Nets. Their performance may have declined, but their friendship and on-court intensity remained as strong as ever.
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Garnett was known for his unmatched intensity. He never did anything halfway, and everything he approached, he gave 100 percent. That even extended to pre-game warmups. On an episode of the “Ticket and the Truth” podcast, he revealed that he and Pierce would go head-to-head in high-effort 1-on-1 battles before their matches for the Nets.
In his prime, Pierce was a pure bucket-getter and one of the most feared scorers in the NBA. Naturally, no teammate could really beat him in a one-on-one matchup. No one except Garnett, that is. He wears that badge with pride, flashing a smirk as he asked Pierce if anyone else had ever beaten him in a 1-on-1.
“Here’s what I wanted to ask you, bro. Since you were prolific one-on-one, has anyone beat you in one-on-one before? Other than myself?” he asked his Finals MVP-winning teammate.
“Paul and I used to f*** around before the game in Brooklyn and play one-on-one,” he continued, to clarify things for viewers. “One possession. Some nights I would hit it, some nights I won’t. We didn’t f*** with nobody else, when anybody else tries and get involved, we’re like, ‘Nah, watch out.'”
Garnett was one of the NBA’s best defenders, but even he couldn’t always come out on top against his former teammate. That’s how good Pierce was. Maybe that’s why he can confidently put himself among the all-time greats, even when others don’t do it for him.
After Kevin Durant was dubbed the greatest scorer in the history of the game by LeBron James, Pierce had some issues with that. “I was probably the best pure scorer ever in the history of the game,” Pierce said on FS1’s Speak. “I was pretty equipped when I think about it. I’m just saying, like, I need to be in this conversation.”
Of course, even the self-proclaimed “best pure scorer” in league history had his struggles against Garnett in warmups. Pierce made sure to give KG his flowers during his appearance on Podcast P.
He praised the 2003 MVP’s intensity and his ability to stay locked in no matter the situation. Pierce described Garnett’s meticulous pre-game ritual and how, once it began, nothing could break his focus.
“Before the game, you couldn’t really say nothing. He is not talking to you. He’s so locked in, you can’t even tell him anything. He’ll get his tape. He got his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He’s just in a zone,” the 2008 Finals MVP said. “You could be right here and say, ‘Hey Tick’… he’s going to just act like he didn’t feel nothing. He just locked in.”
This is what made Garnett a superstar and a legend, not just for the Celtics and Timberwolves, but for the game of basketball itself. After all, how many players can say they earned 15 All-Star selections over a 21-year career? Not many.
