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NBA FINALS: CELTIC v LAKERSJune 12, 2010Kevin GarnettBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS: Practice Day Q. You guys have made it through this series so far without everybody having it on at the same time. Is that just a matter of coincidence when it happens? Is it something you can predict or -- KEVIN GARNETT: Offensively I think, if I'm understanding your question right, offensively we haven't had multiple guys click, click, click. But you know what, they're a real sound defensive team and they're going to take some things away, and that's what it is. The series is a series of adjustments, and I feel like with each game comes a new set of adjustments. One game, it can be Paul, one game can be myself, one game can be Ray, it can be Rajon. But at the end of the day you have to be aggressive, take what they give you, and I think for the most part we've done just that. Q. I wonder with the young guys on your team, what advice can you sort of give them on and off the court? And from what you've learned in your career, and what advice if you could go back say ten years, what might you tell yourself? KEVIN GARNETT: My advice to all our young guys on our team is just always be in love with getting better, be infatuated with the game. Potential is all about what you put into it, to lean on hard work and be in love with them at the end of the day. I'm not sure what I would tell myself ten years from now. Probably would have made a lot of -- not a lot but a couple of different decisions here and there, but for the most part, man, life is a journey, and what you go through only makes you stronger and gives you tough skin. It's because of certain things that happen to you that you're able to -- when you do have success that you're able to rejoice and really enjoy it. Q. When you talk about being in love with getting better, is that something that was natural with you? Is that something that you had to teach yourself or did that just kind of some natural? KEVIN GARNETT: I was raised from a mom who worked hard, from a household who believed that working is everything, with the belief that nothing is given to you; you have to go and earn it. I don't know anybody that does something just for it, especially if this is how you eat or this is what you're in love with. You should always try to better yourself. I don't know, it's just upbringing, the way I was raised. But I've never been able to see anybody that was an example around me putting blood, sweat and tears into something that did not want to better themselves. So it's only right that some of that you pick up on as a youngster. Q. Some people on the outside look at this team and say they've got the Big Three, they've got Rondo, anybody can coach this team. What do you think has been Doc's biggest contribution over the years of getting this team to the stuff it's accomplished? KEVIN GARNETT: It's a good group. Doc lets us deal with each other how we deal with each other. He doesn't try to control us. He lets you be who you are, but at the end of the day he's in control of everybody. If you have an ego or if you think you're better than what you are or you're not doing well, he does a great job of micromanaging this team. Everybody knows their role. There's not one person before this team, there's not two or three guys before this team. One sound, one band. That's pretty much the theme. I don't think you can bring any coach in here and coach this team. It takes a -- especially when we get riled up and we're a certain kind of way, he does a good job of just consolidating us. I feel like at times when we're too up, he'll give us a second to come down, and when we're too down, he'll definitely jump on your stuff and tell you when to pick it up. I love him. Q. Has this happened in this playoffs where he's brought you guys down a little bit? KEVIN GARNETT: Absolutely. Not just in this series but in the series before that and the series before that and when we first started, yeah. Q. You said you'll play out for the remaining two years of your contract and go from there and see what happens. Are you convinced and is everybody convinced that you can be an elite team the next two years given what you've done and not being as healthy as a team as you'd like? KEVIN GARNETT: You know what, to be honest, man, I think the focus is just today and focusing on tomorrow to be honest. I don't think too many people are looking into the future. We haven't discussed it or there hasn't been any dialogue with that. But when it comes up, I'm sure we'll address it. We'll deal with the future when it's right. Q. I am sure that you're aware of the past perception of the Celtics as a team that was embraced more by white fans perhaps than by African-American fans. I was wondering since you've been here, do you think that your presence, Ray's arrival and the winning has helped changed the perception and helped make this team a team that more African-American fans or other fans can also embrace? KEVIN GARNETT: To be honest with you, I think the perception of Boston is a lot different when you live here, and I understand it now. I don't think it's a white and black thing. Winning does help everything, I will say that. But the Celtics are simply like this: If you are a Celtic and you believe in us, then you're with us. Anybody outside of that, we're against. And that's what it is. It's nothing personal, it's nothing deliberate. I think a couple cities, they would say it's kind of deliberate, but for the most of it, it's not. It's just you're an outsider and you're not on the inside of the bowl. That's what it is. Because my perception was very similar to that obviously when I played in Minnesota, and coming here it was different. You see it from the outside. But once you're on the inside, you belong here and you're embraced from the minute you get here. If you're a student of the game and you understand the severity of the tradition here, all that comes into play with the responsibility of putting the green on. It's not a white or black thing here. Q. You didn't start right away in your first year in Minnesota. I'm just wondering, was that difficult for you coming into the league? And how, if at all, did you benefit from that? KEVIN GARNETT: No, I did not start when I first came into the league, and it was great. I got to actually get a chance to sit back and see the game, try to understand it from my perspective, not an older guy perspective. And then when I did have a chance to get in the game, you know, I messed up. I was able to make mistakes and able to watch film and try to listen to those mistakes as best I could with hard work and preparation. I think it's kind of good not to just come in and start. I think it gives you a chance or a cushion to make some mistakes, and it drove me. It drove me to not only be a starter, but to be one of the best players to ever play this game. If you know me, I'm easily motivated off small things, and I can say when I was younger, being a starter was one of those things. Q. When you had a tough game early in the series, they made an effort to go to you early in the next game. How important was that to you, to get involved in the game and in Game 5 to get the guys who had a tough game in Game 4 -- KEVIN GARNETT: It was important to me to feel like I was actually in the game. I get hard -- I'm down on myself about being proactive and being in the game and doing multiple things, just being able to play, to be honest with you. I could care less about getting the ball, I could care less about scoring. But if I need to be effective in the post presence, then I need to do that. I thought Doc did a good job of just obviously consolidating the ball, giving me a chance to be aggressive, and plays were called, and I thought for the most part I was just that -- the moral is defense is first and everything else is secondary. Q. When you look to the next game with Ray and Paul, do you think that would help to get them involved offensively and for the defensive end, as well, to get them going? KEVIN GARNETT: How this team works is multiples. We have multiple options on offense, but on defense we try to be as one. But yeah, absolutely it helps to have two, three other guys who can take the scoring burden and carry it, and you just focus on two or three other different things. It's definitely a joy, I can say that. End of FastScripts |
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