The Boston Celtics are one of the NBA’s most prestigious franchises. With a storied history and a track record of success, they will always be a place that draws the attention of the NBA community.
And while the fanbase gets a bad rep today, Celtics players (both current and former) have always mentioned them in a positive light.
For Celtics legend Kevin Garnett, he understood what the Boston crowd was like after Larry Bird personally explained why he liked playing for the city.
“I heard Larry Bird say one time in his early years in Boston is that the reason why he loved playing in front of the fans in Boston is because you couldn’t fake them,” Garnett said, per MassLive. “You couldn’t fool the fans. They knew when you was playing hard. They knew when you were giving your all. They have a sense of basketball history and they have high basketball IQs. They cared and I never forgot that.”
With 17 Championships in their history, the Celtics have always been a model of success, and it’s why fans always keep expectations high for the ball club.
As a player with an insatiable drive and work ethic, it’s no surprise that the fans embraced Garnett almost as much as he embraced them.
“I never wanted to come in and be cool, I didn’t want to be calm,” Garnett said. “I wanted to be under control, but I wanted to be electric. I wanted to win every game and I wanted everybody who I was playing against to know that. I guess the fans resonated with that and to this day, fans come up to me, they dap me, they express their appreciation for hard work and passion.”
KG played six seasons for the Celtics and that stretch came with plenty of ups and downs. Through it all, KG endured and was able to bring home a title during one of the franchise’s best modern-day stretches.
Today, the Cs are having to deal with unhappy fans amid another rough season. The core of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart looks fragile and the future is clouded in uncertainty.
But no matter how bad things get, Celtics fans are going to ride-or-die with their squad. They will also keep demanding more until things get better.
