Kevin Garnett is a Basketball Hall of Famer.
And the ex-Celtic forward depicted his six years in Boston — between 2007-08 and 2012-13 — was a major reason for his induction, which he called a “culmination” of everything he had worked for.
“Playing with Paul (Pierce), playing with Ray (Allen), coming to Boston was a huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, huge challenge in my life,” Garnett said Saturday during his appearance on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”
“It was probably one of the biggest decisions I made in my career, and I’m glad I made it,” said Garnett, who helped the C’s claim the 2008 NBA title. “We should have got together a couple years earlier, right? We’d probably be sitting on about two or three, more rings, but it’s all good, man.”
The Big Ticket played 396 games in Boston, averaging 15.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in a Celtics uniform. He was named the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year with the organization as well.
Garnett earned 15 NBA All-Star selections and nine NBA All-Defensive First Team selections. He averaged a double-double of 17.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game during his 21-year career, which included 14 seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves (two stints) and two years with the Brooklyn Nets.
Garnett enters the Basketball Hall of Fame along with fellow 2020 inductees Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Tamika Catchings, Patrick Baumann, Barbara Stevens, Kim Mulkey, Eddie Sutton and Rudy Tomjanovich.
Garnett and the Class of 2020 will be enshrined Aug. 29 in Springfield, Mass., at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony.
