Rowan Kavner
MINNEAPOLIS – If Doc Rivers wasn’t going to get a Kevin Garnett reunion, this was the most fitting alternative in his mind.
Garnett played six seasons for Rivers and won a championship in Boston, but even Rivers described Minnesota as the “perfect spot” for Garnett, who was traded back to where it all began for him.
“Not only just him returning home, but him in his role of teaching,” Rivers said. “You can see it. He’s going to teach those young guys how to be pros. You’ve already heard the stuff about the cell phones in the locker rooms before the games, getting on guys in practice. You guys haven’t seen him, but in practice, if you’re young and you’re not right, you’ll get right if Kevin Garnett’s on your team.
“I would’ve loved for him to come to the Clippers and go for another one, but even me, who’s competitive as hell, has to say that Kevin Garnett ended up in the perfect spot. This is awesome.”
Rivers said he took a lot from Garnett in Boston and may have actually taken more from Garnett than Garnett took from him. Rivers said Garnett didn’t need him, but the respect is clearly mutual.
“Doc had a huge impact on my career, leaving here, teaching us -- all the guys I joined in Boston -- teaching us the true meaning of teamwork, teammates, having some self-pride, playing for the next guy,” Garnett said before playing Rivers and the Clippers on Monday. “Great time in my life, times I'll never forget. Monumental times, some of the best times of my basketball career. Great teacher, great motivator.”
It’s still weird for Rivers to coach against Garnett, even as the power forward makes his second stop since leaving Rivers’ Celtics. He said he loves Garnett so much, he just wants to beat him.
He was able to do that Monday in a game where both Garnett and Rivers’ son, Austin, got double techs for arguing with each other. That actually helped the Clippers, who were able to turn a few seconds on the shot-clock back up to 14 after the fouls to get a longer possession.
“When you love somebody, you want to beat them more,” Rivers said. “It’s strange.”
When Rivers thinks back to his time with Garnett, the words “loyalty” and “professionalism” stood out. In fact, Rivers would call it “almost nutty loyalty.”
“He held up the trade in Boston twice,” Rivers said. “The original one he blew up. All the sense for him, basketball-wise, was to come to Boston. You have a chance. And the second time when we got Ray (Allen) and would have Paul (Pierce) and Kevin, he still held the trade up because he didn’t want to feel like he was bailing on Minnesota. We had to do some convincing. I was amazed by that. I was worried about him for a while, mentally, like ‘What’s wrong with this guy?’”
When Garnett finally became a Celtic, Rivers said he quickly began to understand what Garnett and his loyalty were all about.
“I'm sure what he's doing with those young guys, they're starting to realize,” Rivers said. “I'm sure they probably thought it was fake, like no one could be this intense, no one could be this professional, no one could be this bought in to their team. I think playing with him, they're going to all learn that (it's not fake). It's really neat.
“I thought in Boston he changed our culture. He literally changed our culture. You look at all the things he stands for, and he follows through on those things."
Rivers hopes because of Garnett’s qualities he’ll consider coaching when he retires, though Rivers doesn’t believe it’ll happen.
“I think he’ll be involved in the game,” Rivers said. “I really think he should be a coach. I still think he should. We’ve had that argument now for six years. But when he takes those guys in practice and works with him, and he loves doing it, he’s good. He’s hard, but he’s as good of a player/coach as I’ve ever seen, and he won’t do it because he just won’t allow himself. But he should. I think it’s a loss if he doesn’t do it.”
