Kevin Garnett’s intensity is unmatched. So when Austin Rivers first walked into an NBA practice facility as a kid tagging along with his father, then-Celtics head coach Doc Rivers, not yet understanding what professional intensity actually looked like up close, he found out fast. Watching Garnett was enough to leave an impression that never faded away.

“That’s like peak intense. I don’t think there’s anybody I’ve ever played against or seen in an NBA game be more intense than Kevin Garnett. Uh, so he used to always scare me, you know, when I was young,” Rivers said on the Dan Patrick Show.

The fear Garnett instilled made sense. His intensity built the culture of the team from the very first practice. “We got into arguments, we got into fights, we wrestled. We were a team full of barbarians,” the Big Ticket said. So when asked about LeBron James by Bill Simmons, Garnett was clear about the lack of fear from a rival: “We didn’t fear LeBron.” The man inside the building was more intense than anyone outside could ever be.

Intensity was Garnett’s basketball alter ego. He never believed anything was out of his reach. Glen Davis had 50 pounds on Garnett. On one flight, no Celtics player could beat Davis at arm-wrestling, until Garnett won, silencing the cabin. “I’m the alpha dog in here. Don’t you guys ever forget it,” Garnett told the team, according to Brian Scalabrine.

“Obviously, when I became more of a fan of basketball, like I was obsessed with just his aura, his tenacious energy, and what he brought to that Celtics team. That 08 Celtics team. Again, you know, Paul Pierce was the guy, but KG was the spirit of that team,” Rivers said about Garnett’s impact on the Celtics. But the best part about his marriage to Boston was Garnett’s relationship with the fans.

Both sides shared such wild passion for the game that they accepted KG wholeheartedly.

Boston was meant for Kevin Garnett

When it came to basketball, Kevin Garnett channeled a different being. He would hiss or even bark. Players found that to be intimidating, but he didn’t change for his teammates. Paul Pierce once detailed how KG fabricated a story about Dirk Nowitzki hurling racial slurs at him “in German” just to get himself psyched up. It wasn’t normal, but it was perfectly fine for the millions of Celtics fans who watched Garnett leave every piece of himself out on the court during each game.

Garnett embodied Boston’s intensity, the same kind that fans echoed from the seats of TD Garden. And they knew it was part of Garnett’s being. That formed a truly special connection between him and the fanbase.

“I heard Larry Bird say one time in his early years in Boston that the reason why he loved playing in front of the fans in Boston is because you couldn’t fake them. You couldn’t fool the fans. They knew when you was playing hard. They knew when you were giving your all,” Garnett said in 2022.

The star-studded Celtics won one championship, but fans understood its significance. Kevin Garnett had reached as high as a player could, but hadn’t won. The Celtics left all of those things aside to unite for that kind of run. That’s where Garnett’s “anything is possible” scream reverberates around the TD Garden still. That’s the kind of passion the Celtics emblem demands.

KG came with the motive to be remembered forever. Garnett’s jersey was retired in 2022, joining the legends he looked up to. Boston was meant for Kevin Garnett. And in every shape and form, the city welcomed him with open arms and made him part of the family. That connection stays strong to this day. The Celtics green will always expect players to shed sweat and blood the way Garnett did.