BOSTON — The day Kevin Garnett saw his No. 5 climb the rooftop at TD Garden, he officially buried his beef with Ray Allen.
As part of a ceremony celebrating Garnett's six years with the franchise, he chose Allen—who sat in the front row of the assembled guests, along with fellow Big Three member Paul Pierce—to present after years of acrimony between them. Let it be
"It's nice to see Ray Allen here," Garnett said. "Real s---. Nice to see you, man. Next you, dog."
Allen then came and hugged Garnet with Pierce behind them, holding both of them in a bear hug as the crowd burst into applause.
It was a moment that officially closed the rift between them 10 years ago, when Allen opted to sign with the Miami Heat as a free agent. It was a move that ended a five-year run for the three stars—all members of the NBA's 75th anniversary team—that brought Boston a championship in 2008 and heralded a new era of collecting stars in the NBA. Best them.
"Yeah, it's a big one," said Doc Rivers from Philadelphia, who coached the 2008 title team, when Allen was asked about Sunday night appearances. "Because it's been a problem, obviously, and the fact that it looks like the fence is finally coming down is really cool.
"Very, very happy and really good for Kevin to have Ray come today."
Allen said he was only sure he was going to attend the event last week. He admitted that, for a long time, he wasn't sure such a reunion would be possible.
However, when Allen, Garnett and Pierce were together in Cleveland for the NBA's 75th anniversary celebration, they said they were both successful, and Allen said he was very happy to be a part of Garnett Day.
"Most certainly," said Allen. "I don't like being outside. There are so many people I love that I spent time with... Those people, they get imprinted on my mind when it comes to the time I spend here in Boston. , and not being able to connect with them was always - it was always hard for me.
"Just because I walked away doesn't mean the relationship, that friendship, ends. So it was centered around Kevin and me because I got a sense of how the people here felt Kevin. Once he told me Accepted, people accepted me. That was the feeling. I'm glad we could do this and people could see, 'We lived with this guy in 2008, and that's what matters most.'"
This was all realized long before the day when Garnet's numbers were finally extended to the rafters, where it now sits alongside the piers and is the latest of 23 numbers retired during Boston's illustrious history.
"[Former Celtic] Antoine Walker, before I came here, he pulled me over and he gave me some great words of wisdom and I took it to the [introductory] press conference," Garnett said of whether the moment was something. He imagined this to happen. "The first thing I did after the press conference was come here and look at the rafters.
"I just revealed, not just a championship, but being immortalized in the ceiling, you know what I'm saying? It's safe to say I revealed it."
Garnett's arrival in 2007 in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves helped transform a dying franchise, and propel Boston back to the top of the NBA.
In his six seasons with the franchise, Garnett made five All-Star teams, was a first-team All-NBA selection in 2008—the same year he won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award—and four All-Defensive teams.
Even the Celtics lost in a heartbreaking fashion to the Dallas Mavericks before the start of the ceremony - falling 95-92 to a Spencer Dinwiddie 3-pointer in the final seconds to lose just the third time in the last 18 games - nothing Could have dampened the excitement and excitement in the arena for the ceremony, which began 30 minutes after the end of the game and lasted about an hour.
The game was, essentially, a two-plus hour warmup act for the main event. Garnett was first acknowledged on the Jumbotron during a media timeout - which earned him three standing ovations during the game itself.
After a massive Jaylen Brown dunk right in front of her, Garnett got up and celebrated with her, before Brown ran back on the court to defend.
Rivers also gave a video message for not attending the ceremony.
“Every coach in America – in the world – should have the chance to coach Kevin Garnett, the greatest teammate to ever play the game,” Rivers said.
The ceremony eventually began with Hall of Fame play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman talking about seeing Garnet play for the first time with the franchise at a preseason game in Rome.
"By halftime," Gorman said with a smile, "I wanted to hug [then-Celtics president of basketball operations] Danny Ange."
Gorman was followed by Pierce, who had been friends with Garnett, as the two of them played together on the AAU circuit in high school and their time in Boston was revived when Garnett and Allen separated during that fictional summer of 2007. Arrived in different trades.
"We applaud you, man," said Pierce, one of eight members of the 2008 championship team in attendance. "You brought a sense of culture to this city that was so desperately needed. You brought back Celtic pride. That's why I want you as a teammate, as a friend, as a brother, and as a brother to everyone in this city." I want to thank you for speaking up and for the crowd and everyone. The player who got the chance to play with you, we love you, man. Thank you."
A video montage of people congratulating Garnett was then played, including Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas—who was humorously booed by Celtics fans—along with Kevin McHale, who drafted Garnett with the Timberwolves in 1995. Was, and Bill Russell, among others .
In the end, however, Garnett took center stage through an interview with fellow 2008 champion Brian ScalaBrine, who is now working as a color analyst for NBC Sports Boston.
It was an interview that Garnett began in typical — and colorful — fashion.
"I knew you all were with me, but I didn't know you all f--ed me like this," he said, getting out of his seat and pounding his chest as the crowd erupted. In another massive ovation.
From there, he and Scalabrine shared stories about their playing days, and about the great passion and drive that helped Garnett become one of the sport's all-time greats.
With the help of his daughters, Garnett raised his jersey to the rafters, tearing out his eyes.
"You know, I was here listening to videos and everything and I kept hearing it saying I'm here to make players better," Garnett said, "and those players really made me better, And I like to think we've made each other better."