Kevin Garnett says Kobe Bryant’s silence helped push him toward Boston instead of Los Angeles, a decision that ended up sending him down the path to an NBA title with the Celtics.
On The Out of Mud Podcast, Garnett said he had a real chance to land with the Lakers in 2007 after his time with the Minnesota Timberwolves. But the conversation around that move took a turn once he couldn’t get Bryant on the phone.
“I talked to Chauncey [Billups], and Chauncey was a real friend,” Garnett said. “We was in the summertime, we was all working out, and he was like, ‘Man, you got to move on, man.
I know you don't want to, but you're going to look up and you're going to have exhausted all your great years here, bro.' That was the first time I heard that where I actually listened to it, and it touched me.”
That advice opened the door for Garnett to look elsewhere, and Boston quickly became the fit. He said the move also gave him a chance to team up with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.
“Then I just called Kevin [McHale] and said, ‘Yeah, let's go ahead and start to find another situation. This ain't working for me.'
So then him and Danny [Ainge] were friends, and they started that, and it made sense. I had played with Paul before, and I had played with Ray, but not officially.
Ray's from South Carolina, so I knew him. So I liked it.”
Garnett said the Lakers and the Phoenix Suns were both in play, but Bryant’s lack of response changed everything.
“Couldn't get Kobe on the phone,” Bryant said. “He was acting real arrogant.
So I was like, ‘You know what? I'm just going to [go with] them.'
And that's how I ended up in Boston. It was perfect.”
Before making the final call, Garnett reached out to Antoine Walker for advice about what it would take to make things work with Boston’s stars.
“I had to holler at Antoine [Walker] before I went to Boston, though. That's when he gave me the lick on P.
Like, ‘If you're going to play with Paul, Paul cares about these things.' He told me what worked with them and what didn't work with them, and I took that to heart.”
The choice worked out exactly as Boston hoped. In 2008, Garnett and the Celtics beat Bryant and the Lakers in six games to win the NBA championship.
Even with that rivalry on the court, Garnett and Bryant were never locked in bad blood. Garnett was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021 alongside Bryant, who died the year before, and he said he felt deep gratitude for being honored with him.
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