Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are allies in a way the sport of basketball has seldom seen. They won the only championship of their career together in 2008 for the Boston Celtics and the pair have had an unbreakable bond since. However, as relationships between contemporary athletes go, Pierce and Garnett knew each other long before the trade to bring KG to Boston in 2007.
Instagram account @bostoncelts4eva put out an incredible series of pictures that chronicle the journey Pierce and Garnett had as basketball players. It goes all the way back to the pair knowing each other back in high school.
The players first crossed paths in 1994 when their high school teams matched up on Pierce’s home court in Inglewood, California. They built a relationship that night and KG would come to California in the summers and practice alongside Pierce.
The pair would first be teammates in the 1995 McDonald’s All-American Game before Pierce went on to play three years with the Kansas Jayhawks, while Garnett transitioned to the NBA out of high school. They would be opponents on opposite conferences, with Pierce in Boston and KG in Minnesota.
Garnett had a lot of early-career success, winning NBA MVP in 2004. However, his Timberwolves failed in the Playoffs regularly and KG eventually was traded to Boston to play alongside Pierce. The pair had electric chemistry as a dynamic forward pair where one was a master scorer and the other was an exceptional defender.
2008 saw KG win Defensive Player of the Year and Pierce pick up Finals MVP when they won the title over the Los Angeles Lakers, playing alongside Ray Allen to form the infamous ‘Celtics Big Three‘. They would be traded to Brooklyn together and continue playing in the NBA after their prime.
Now, they both sit enshrined as Hall of Famers with their jerseys retired in the rafters of the TD Garden in Boston. They were also named on the NBA 75 Anniversary Team together, alongside Ray Allen. Illustrious teammates and hopefully, friends for life.
