1. What is your favorite memory of Kevin Garnett with the Celtics?
Brian Robb: Can I say the postgame interviews? Theres too many favorites to list from them. For as good of a player as he was on the floor, captaining some of the best team defense ever in the early days of the Big Three era, I have to say there was little else I enjoyed more than a postgame KG interview. Whether he was talking about a bar fight the Cs just won, their grit and balls, or another metaphor about the teams chemistry or effort, Garnett was a candid, insightful speaker that never disappointed.
Brendan Jackson: Anything is possible!
It seems obvious given that it was the most memorable moment of the Celtics 2008 Championship celebration. However, I love it because its not only representative of Garnetts crazy, its also completely genuine. Garnett may pound his chest pregame and exaggerate contact for a foul, but he generally shies away from the theatre of basketball. He doesnt shoot left-handed free throws because his right elbow is bruised. He doesnt get carried off the court for cramps. His kissing of center court and total disregard for the postgame on-court interview are just two perfect examples of who Garnett is: a lunatic who is genuine and lives and dies for the game of basketball. If you think Garnetts antics are disingenuous, you are underestimating his crazy.
Michael Pina: What a question. Its far too difficult to pin-point one specific moment on the court because Garnetts brilliance played as a nightly ritual. First hed let buckets of spittle fly through the air as he danced to each corner of the court, jack-hammering a closed fist into his own heart.
The sequence played as a perfect juxtaposition to how Garnett would always bow his head against the stanchion in the preceding moments, his lips mumbling words of inspirationfinal seconds for him to enter his own head before the battle began. And who could forget all the blowout victories that ended with him staring up at the jumbo screen with a smile on his face in anticipation of Gino, the dancing human victory cigar, like a speechless child who swears he saw Santa Claus drifting behind a cloud on Christmas Eve.
These moments will play over and over and over in my head whenever I think of Kevin Garnetts tenure with the Celtics. To pick a favorite is too difficult, but how about settling on the day he signed? Seven years later, that press conference still makes me feel like a 12-year-old
