Kevin Garnett played many significant games in his 21-year NBA career. And given how he always played like there was no tomorrow, it’s unsurprising that he almost always finished every game spent, both physically and emotionally, leaving it all on the court.
But one specific game stands out in KG’s mind as the toughest of his entire career, and the memory of how exhausted he was lingers in his mind to this day. It was Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals, where Garnett and the Boston Celtics faced off against their longtime rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers.
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With so much pride at stake, not to mention the Larry O’Brien trophy, the two teams went back and forth. And as the Celtics began the fourth up by a scant four points, 57-53, KG knew it would take them everything and more to get the job done.
KG was begging his legs to move
The Lakers entered the NBA Finals, not only wanting to repeat as champions but also to gain revenge for the loss they suffered to the same Celtics squad in the 2008 NBA Finals. With a stacked roster bannered by a robust frontcourt that featured Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Andrew Bynum, KG had his work cut out for him.
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And with only one quarter left to decide the fate of the series, he recalled practically begging his lower extremities to work.
“I think it was the hardest game ever played,” Garnett said in a conversation with his former coach and fellow Celtics legend, Kevin McHale. “You know what’s crazy? We knew we was going back in at like the nine-minute mark, 10-minute mark. And Doc was like, ‘Hey, look, you know, Game 7, I’m going with my troops.'”
Unfortunately for KG, he couldn’t summon enough energy to help stave off the Lakers’ run in the fourth. With the Staples Center crowd cheering the home team on, the Purple and Gold outhustled the Cs, 30-22, in the final canto to win the game, 83-79, and capture another title at their rival’s expense.
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“Man, no worse feeling than when you are looking at your legs, telling your legs to move, telling — telling whatever you can get out of your legs right now, ‘Please, give me it,” KG, who scored only four points in the fourth, stated. “It was the most tired I’ve ever been in a game. I was exhausted.”
The beginning of the end of that Celtics’ run
As Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic sank two free throws with 11.3 seconds to go to seal the win for L.A., KG remembered shambling back to the locker room with confetti raining down on him. Unfortunately, the celebration wasn’t for them.
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“I just remember being out of gas. And I just remember they was letting play on, super physical with that. Hey, next thing you know, it’s confetti. It was over,” Garnett recalled the bitter memory.
Reaching the NBA Finals is no mean feat. Getting so close to winning it all, only to fall short in such a heartbreaking fashion, is truly devastating. And that’s exactly how KG felt that night: defeated and stunned. And no matter how much his mind was telling him to get dressed and move on, he just couldn’t get his body to cooperate.
“I didn’t leave L.A.’s locker room till like five in the morning,” he shared. “And I can hear them. I can hear them outside. And I remember Rasheed getting up, retiring right there. And it wasn’t, you know, it wasn’t a bunch of boo-hooing. But everybody was stunned. There was nobody talking. It was nothing to say.”
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That run would be the last that the Celtics squad would make. After losing in the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs, KG departed for the Brooklyn Nets before returning to the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, he would not sniff the NBA Finals ever again.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 26, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.