Kevin Garnett shared the connection he felt with Bill Walton through wearing the same jersey number
Garnett and Walton both wore No. 5 with the Celtics.
Decades before Kevin Garnett became the last Celtics player to wear No. 5, Bill Walton rocked the number over his three-year stint in Boston.
The Basketball Hall of Famer wore No. 5 as he came off the bench for the Celtics in the mid-to-late 1980s. Even though his time in Boston was brief, Walton was able to etch himself into Celtics lore. He won Sixth Man of the Year for the 1985-86 season and later played a key role off the bench in the postseason to help the Celtics win the NBA title later that year.
When Garnett arrived in Boston in 2007, he switched his jersey number from his days in Minnesota from No. 21 to No. 5. Following Walton’s death on Monday from cancer, Garnett shared that the Celtics placed a list of players who previously wore No. 5 in his locker room when he joined the team, saying he felt the expectation to live up to the standard Walton had placed.
“The Celtics do that so you understand the responsibility for the number you’re about to represent, for the people that actually repped it before you,” Garnett said on the most recent episode of his podcast, “KG Certified: Ticket & The Truth.” “When I said when I came to Boston it felt different, this is what felt different: That you embedded not just a culture, but a circular network of players, of greatness that came in here. And to your talent, who you are, and who you think you are, you have a responsibility to plug into that network.”
Garnett made an immediate impact when he arrived in Boston. He won Defensive Player of the Year as the Celtics won 66 games in the 2007-08 regular season before winning the title.
Garnett credited the connection he felt to Walton through the jersey number along with conversations he had with other Celtics icons, like Bill Russell, for helping him become acclimated in the franchise’s culture.
“I felt that [expletive],” Garnett said. “When I was the anchor of the defense, I felt the energy. When I talked to Bill, that was our connection. He was asking me, ‘Man, when you’re anchoring, whatcha seeing?’ The connection and the conversation was that. He would tell me how he would talk to [his teammates] and what their language was, talking about calling out picks and [expletive].”
Of course, the history that Walton and Russell helped shape with the Celtics created heavy expectations for Garnett to follow suit when he, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen formed the “Big 3” in 2007. But Garnett said he was “in a bliss” and a state of “awe” when he looked at the Celtics’ icons, citing them as motivators over his six seasons in Boston.
“The responsibility to your talent as to who you think you are among these greats that’s come in here, almost like the Greek Gods and the African Gods, that’s how I felt,” Garnett said. “Then, one day, you look up and them [expletive] are sitting there watching you, watching you practice. How the [expletive] am I sit out when Bill Russell up there, watching us practice?”
Meanwhile, Pierce said he got to meet with Walton on several occasions during his time with the Celtics. He actually shared that he felt a little uncomfortable during his first meeting with him, but he got past the jitters of meeting Walton.
“Bill Walton is kind of intimidating,” Pierce said. “Like, you don’t know if you should speak to him. When I first met him, he’s not inviting. I’m kind of taking the temperature with him. But then, when I was in the same room with him, I remember the first time he was like, ‘Oh, how are you doing Paul?’ Once he opened up, you really see how cheerful he is.
“He’s really got a big personality. He was like, ‘Paul, just love you, man. Just continue to be you, don’t give a damn what people think about you and everything. Everything will turn out the way you want it.'”
Pierce credited Walton for “always being himself” and for helping pave the way for ex-players in broadcasting, saying “he changed the game in that aspect.”
The Celtics retired the No. 5 in Garnett’s honor in 2022 following his six-year tenure with the team. But Garnett made sure to salute Walton for what he accomplished in Boston as well.
“Shout out to Bill Walton and representing the 5,” Garnett said. “I hope I made him proud for it.”
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