Somewhere, Kevin Garnett’s voice still is echoing.
The Boston Celtics won their most recent championship 12 years ago Wednesday, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on June 17, 2008, to capture their 17th title in franchise history.
The banner-clinching victory — a 131-92 blowout at TD Garden — cemented the legacies of Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, most notably, as Boston’s (new) “big three” reached the NBA summit in its first season together under head coach Doc Rivers.
Pierce earned NBA Finals MVP honors, but the Celtics toppled Kobe Bryant and Co. thanks to contributions from up and down their lineup. Allen, acquired in a draft-night trade with the Seattle SuperSonics, and Garnett, acquired in a separate offseason deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, were instrumental in the Celtics returning to prominence.
The lasting image of Boston’s confetti-filled celebration on the Garden hardwood involved the always fiery Garnett, whose raw emotion poured out during a postgame interview.
“Anything is possible!,” Garnett shouted at the top of his lungs.
The Celtics, who overcame the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons en route to beating the Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals, haven’t successfully climbed the basketball mountain since, a stretch that even includes a seven-game loss to the Lakers in the 2010 Finals. But the memories of that ’08 campaign won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
And if you ever lose hope, with regards to anything, just remember that KG scream: Anything really is possible.
