“He just plays every minute. He’s going to compete the whole time he’s on the court, and he is one of the few guys who is a star that does the little things for his team. Helping to set screens, whatever it takes, he’s going to do that and he’s been that way since he’s been in the league. I don’t think he cares how many points he scores, all that matters to him is if he wins.”

“He has great respect for the game and he’s carried that through his whole career. The respect that he has for the players who played before him is really special. Bill Russell, for instance, is always ‘Mr. Russell,’ and he knows he’s able to do what he does for a living because of what the past players were able to do. His professionalism sets the tone for his teams. He’s a very unique player and the most competitive guy I’ve ever been around. His game preparation starts at the time he wakes up in the morning. Everything he does is built to prepare so he’ll have success when he walks out on the court. He has a very, very high basketball IQ, the highest I’ve ever been around. There were times when we were looking at scouting reports, and Kevin would reference a game from six years prior where we used a strategy that was really effective in stopping an opponent. When you look at everything he can do, guarding ones, twos, threes, fours and fives, the way he rebounds, the way he can score, his assists, he’s the only guy in the NBA’s history to average 20-10-5 six years in a row, and he’s still always trying to get better. He’s trying to pass that along to his teammates for the success of his team, too.”

“They can look in the mirror and realize they’re both the same in so many respects as far as how they run their lives in the NBA and how they’ve run their careers. They’re both competitive as hell, they both understand the game, they both love being on the court, and neither one of them is really that excited about the hoopla that is all around it, but they’ve also endured by taking care of their bodies and what they do in the summertime to take care of their bodies. They’re each the base of each team no matter how you slice it: they’re each the heart and soul of their respective teams, and they can both feel very good about the stamp they both made on the league. They’re very, very similar.”

“I loved the kid the first day of practice. He laid on the floor after his first training camp — laying on the ground with nothing left — and I said, ‘We’ve got to go again tonight.’ He went, ‘Huh?’ I said we did two-a-days, and he was like, ‘Oh my.’ But that night he came and he laid it on the ground, played on the line, laying on the ground, playing on the line. At the end, he was laying on the ground, and I said to him, ‘Now we do two again tomorrow.’ He looked up at me and said, ‘Man, this is going to be a job.’ He hasn’t changed since then, he’s just got better. His ability to compete at a high level for such a long time, his love of the game, his competitive nature, it really is fun to watch.”

“

And when it was over on the floor on Friday night, and Rivers substituted for Garnett in the final seconds, the Celtics’ star stopped to ask his coach a question: ‘You all right, Doc?’ This made it worse for Rivers, and truth be told, made it the most Garnett moment ever. Rivers turned to his assistant coaches, shook his head and told them, ‘Typical Kevin.’

‘He’s walking off the court, playing 41 minutes, exhausted and he was checking on me, to see how I was. … That’s Kevin Garnett.’

”

“He changed our whole way. I can preach it all day, but when you’ve got a guy walking the walk, the franchise changes. Every new guy who came in here – even Shaq – had to change a little around Kevin. He’s different than any star I’ve ever been around. He’s built differently. I hope we have a lot more of them around the league.”

“I’m down at times during the game because I’m thinking about Paul’s emotions because it’s not the game he wanted. And you’re trying to coach the game. It is an extra layer with them. We don’t know how many more years we’re going to have them period, in the league. You just want it to always be perfect for them and as a coach you want to protect that.”

“He’s one of the greatest Celtics to ever play. He’s done so much for this franchise. Listen, we live in a day and time where guys are changing teams like socks. Paul has chosen to stay here throughout his career when clearly he had all rights to leave and he chose to stay here. I have so much respect for him for that. He wanted to get it done here. He made that choice. I hope he’s remembered for that and obviously I hope he comes back.”

“Kevin has inspired me every day I get a chance to play with him and practice with him, see his preparation. That’s the inspiring part. And he’s been that way since we’ve been able to obtain him, and it’s constant. It’s non-stop with him.”