Paul Pierce received the highest honor that an organization can bestow upon a retired player over the weekend, as the Boston Celtics decided to retire his number. The game leading up to the ceremony wasn’t exactly ideal, as the Celtics got blown out by Cleveland, but it was still quite the scene as Pierce’s number was raised into the rafters.
As for who will be the next Celtic to receive this honor, Pierce told Chris Forsberg of ESPN that only one name makes sense: Kevin Garnett. While he was only with the franchise for six year, Garnett made his impression felt on the Celtics and played a massive role in them winning the 2008 NBA Finals.
Pierce also added an interesting tidbit regarding whether the Celtics will beat the Minnesota Timberwolves to being the first team to retire Garnett’s number. Apparently, Garnett would rather have his number retired by Boston, although there is a major caveat to this.
“[Garnett would] rather have his jersey retired in Boston than in Minnesota,” Pierce said to ESPN. “He’ll eventually have his number retired with the Timberwolves, too, but he’ll have to wait until management sells the team.”
Garnett has been open about his dismay towards the people who run Timberwolves now, and has even said he wants to be part of the ownership group that leads to current owner Glen Taylor relinquishing control of the team. Who knows if that will ever happen, but if Pierce is correct, this will prevent Minnesota from having the chance to retire Garnett’s number.
