BOSTON — Only two players on the Celtics’ current roster were teammates with Kevin Garnett when he was in Boston.
One of those players didn’t even play Garnett’s position, but Celtics guard Avery Bradley still had high praise Monday for the Minnesota Timberwolves forward and the role he played as a mentor.
“I take a lot,” Bradley said before Monday’s game between the Celtics and Timberwolves at TD Garden, which Garnett won’t participate in. “One thing that I learned from Kevin is being professional on and off the court. He pushed me every single day.”
Garnett was 36 years old during the 2012-13 season, his last in Boston before he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in the offseason. (Jared Sullinger is the other Celtic who played with Garnett.) Bradley entered the NBA at just 19 years old and says Garnett’s ability to lead vocally and by example was invaluable to him.
“Seeing someone at his point in his career come in every single day and be professional, and the amount of work that he put in on a consistent basis, it made me want to do the same thing,” Bradley said. “It was almost like there was no excuses. If someone like that is coming to the gym every single day and working hard, why shouldn’t I?”
Bradley has been one of Boston’s better players this season, averaging 15.4 points per game, which would be a career high. More importantly, the sixth-year guard has taken on a veteran role on a Celtics team that’s one of the youngest in the NBA, and the lessons Garnett taught him about accountability and hard work apparently have stuck.
“He kind of instilled that in me at the age of 19, and now I try to pass it along,” Bradley added. “That’s one thing he would always tell me: ‘All these things that I’m teaching you now is to help you be better,’ and to pass it along. And that’s what I’m trying to do now.”
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
