The 2007-08 Celtics were a team for the ages, for more than one reason.
Boston engineered a 42-win turnaround in just one year, winning the franchise’s first championship in 22 years behind a core that quickly established itself as a pillar of Celtics history. Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen helped turn the ship around in year one after coming over in separate trades and joining forces with Paul Pierce.
Despite winning 66 games in the regular season, the title actually didn’t come too easily in the playoffs — at least compared to this season’s run. The Celtics lost 10 games on their way to a championship, needing to win Game 7s in each of the first two rounds just to stay alive.
This year’s run has been much smoother, even if the Celtics struggled to pass the eye test against some beaten-up Eastern Conference teams earlier in the playoffs. Boston enters Game 4 with a stellar 15-2 playoff record after a 64-18 regular season.
The Celtics’ run has fans remembering Garnett’s most iconic moment from the 2008 championship — a slogan he delivered moments after the final buzzer sounded.
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Revisiting Kevin Garnett’s ‘Anything is possible’ speech
An ESPN reporter caught up with Garnett after the final buzzer sounded on the Celtics’ championship run in 2008, but the veteran big man needed a few moments to compose himself. When the words finally came to him, Garnett unleashed a line that will resonate in Boston sports history forever.
“Man, I’m so hype right now. Anything’s possible,” an emotional Garnett said before taking his hat off and yelling again, “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!”
The Celtics have as storied of a history as any franchise, but the moment was a surreal one for both Garnett and the franchise. The Celtics went just 24-58 a season earlier when Pierce missed 35 games and both Garnett and Allen played elsewhere.
For Garnett, playoff disappointment became the norm before 2008. The Timberwolves suffered a first-round loss in seven consecutive seasons despite Garnett’s greatness, and their only playoff series wins came during his MVP season in 2003-04. A Western Conference Finals appearance for Minnesota gave way to more disappointment, as the Timberwolves missed the playoffs in each of Garnett’s final three seasons and endured two coaching changes.
After going from such regular playoff failure to an NBA championship in a different city in the span of a year, it’s no surprise the win had Garnett believing anything was possible.
A title in 2024 would feel a bit more possible than 2008. The Celtics have reached the Eastern Conference Finals in six of the last eight years, with an NBA Finals appearance in 2022. Boston has been building toward the pinnacle since Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were drafted, and there’s no doubt franchise leadership will believe this year can be the first of multiple title runs.
The Celtics likely believed that as well in 2008. They returned to the Finals in 2010, but they haven’t won it all since. The new core is on the verge of changing that.
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Where is Kevin Garnett now?
Garnett’s tenure in Boston ended when the Celtics traded him to the Nets along with Pierce in 2013. The deal netted the Celtics a bevy of first-round picks, which helped the franchise build the current roster. In fact, the Nets’ 2016 first-round pick was used to select Jaylen Brown, while the Celtics only landed the 2017 No. 1 pick (which was used to trade down to No. 3) through a pick swap with the Nets in the Garnett-Pierce deal.
Garnett was 37 when he landed in Brooklyn, and he quickly started to play like it. The former MVP averaged only 6.5 points per game in his only full season with the Nets, and he would be traded back to the Timberwolves as just a veteran role player and mentor at the 2015 trade deadline.
Garnett retired from the NBA in September 2016 and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020. While his relationship with Timberwolves ownership is frayed, Garnett remains a fan of both Minnesota and Boston.
“I’m part Wolf, part Celtic,” Garnett said in May.
Garnett also recently defended the Celtics against claims that their playoff path has been easy, mocking fans who want “all this heartfelt drama and [series] going seven games.”
“Nah, that ain’t the script here,” Garnett said, arguing that the Celtics were simply much better than any other team in the East. The standings back him up — Boston finished at least 16 games ahead of everyone else — and the NBA Finals are proving they can do it against Western Conference competition as well.
Garnett currently hosts a podcast called, “KG Certified,” which features Pierce as a weekly guest.