It’s been nearly a decade since Udonis Haslem and the Miami Heat went to battle against Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and the Boston Celtics. But even now, fresh after his retirement from the league, Haslem has no love for his former rivals. Speaking on ‘The OGs Show,’ Haslem revealed his hatred for the former Celtics stars and went so far as to claim he’d throw hands if he ever ran into them again in person.
“I like Tatum, Brown, but them old motherfu**ers KG and Paul, I don’t f*ck with y’all. If I see y’all in the grocery store its on. I don’t care what aisle,” said Haslem. “It can be a 7/11 around the cheese dip, all of it getting flipped over.”
https://twitter.com/LegionHoops/status/1740113092699361482
Over 20 years with the Miami Heat, Haslem went to war against Boston several times in the postseason. En route to their championship run with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, the Heat defeated the Celtics and their two stars on multiple different occasions but it seems the beef goes much deeper than their battles on the court. Thanks in part to their rough play style and intense trash-talk, Boston carried a somewhat controversial reputation in the day and they made more than their fair share of enemies.
Widespread Hate For The OG Celtics
While you could not argue against their play on the court, the Celtics of the mid to late 2000s were not very well-liked by their peers. Apparently, KG and Paul used to say some pretty crazy stuff on the court and they resorted to tactics that were less than favorable in the eyes of the competition. Former NBA veteran Richard Jefferson would later go on to call Pierce and Garnett the “worst human beings of all time” and described them as bullies in the NBA community.
Together, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett achieved greatness for years leading the Celtics but they were only ever able to win one championship together. After so many years of pissing off their strongest competition, it was probably Boston’s own pride and smugness that pushed LeBron James to Miami and set up the Heat as a dynasty in the East. To this day, there are still some bitter feelings on both sides and they may never go away knowing the history involved….
A Long History Between Heat And Celtics
The Boston Celtics have long been the NBA’s most successful franchise, but the Heat have been right on their level for most of modern-day basketball history. For LeBron James, it took him several years before he was able to take down the Celtics’ big three and he lost to them twice in the Semifinals from 2008-2010. In Miami, however, James would ultimately get his revenge against Boston by leading Miami to victory in 2011 and 2012.
Fast forward to today, and we can see signs that things are changing in the East. With a new regime in Boston, led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, it’s the Celtics who have the NBA in a chokehold right now and experts across the country are anticipating a long playoff run… unless the Heat steal the show again just like they did last year in the Eastern Conference Finals.
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