Re: How is Boston different than other stops: “Because of the history. I grew up a really big historian of the game and understanding Boston’s history, the players, many different players, championships won, and so this place is always special to me. The history I think is what makes this city different than all the rest.”
Re: What story does Boston play: “Well for the second half of my career the most important piece is that we lost in 2008. I was determined and said listen I have to figure a solution and do whatever is necessary. I can’t go thru this and that was a turning point.”
Re: Boston fans tonight: “I don’t know I think it will be a little bit of both; appreciation because I certainly appreciate them and then some heaving booing (laughs).”
Re: First most important part of your career: “I think it was getting swept by the Spurs and I remember having to make a decision because the Spurs were such a fundamentally sound team and we had a reputation of being more flash than substance. I had to look at the Spurs and understand why they were so efficient, why they played winning basketball and then I had to step back and look at my game and figure out how to edit my game so I’d simplify it. I felt like at the time I could do so much that I was doing too much, particularly handling the ball. I made a conscious decision to not work on my handle at all and try to dumb down my game to be more efficient so I don’t dribble as much and learn to become more efficient and play winning basketball. I think the Spurs sweeping us that first half is a big turning point for me.”
Re: 2008/2010 championships what stands out more: “The loss. The loss led to the win. I say that in the most beautiful way possible. I don’t remember the loss as like a painful experience, I remember it as a beautiful moment because it helped me find the best version of myself and my teammates. I always remember the beauty of it; at the time not so much (laughs).”
Re: Fans chanting your name and MVP - remember: “2007! Felt amazing! It was a different animal too because the Celtics were struggling so it was a great opportunity for all the up and coming Laker fans to come out Boston to the game. It was a little deceptive because there were so many Laker fans here at the time. 2008 on though, that wasn’t going to happen.”
Re: Lakers/Celtics rivalry in terms of championships: “It wasn’t on my radar as much because I didn’t see the opportunity ever coming to be. We had to deal with the Spurs, we had to deal with Sac, so many teams we had to deal with in the West. When that came to be it was like woah, this would be pretty cool. Then its like ok, I can’t mess this up. I’ll take a 1-1 draw.”
Re: Paul Pierce now in your own town/any relationship: “Relationship no, because we are both all over the place. I’ve known Paul since he was in Kansas. Its a mutual respect that we have for each other because we’ve been thru so many battles. When its all said and done I’m sure we’ll get together and kind of reminisce on old times.”
Re: How have you evolved over the past 20 years: “I think I’ve matured quite a bit as a person. I think at the same time I think the maturity, I’ve lost a lot of the edge because with maturity comes a more docile approach to the game. Whereas back in the day there’s no compromise, there is no understanding, its this or nothing. As you get older you start to get more perspective. It’s a great thing as a person, but as a player not so much.”
Re: Any regrets: “There’s so many things I wish I could have done better. Quite frankly I think there’s always going to be something. Like if we won in 2008, we probably wouldn’t have made the offseason acquisitions that we did that helped us win back to back championships. There’s always a give and take. So what I try to do is to look at all these things, pick up some of those lessons and then carry them on to what I do next. There’s always going to be things that you wish you could have done differently.”
Re: Celtics/Lakers rivalry in the future: “I think one thing we can trust as sports fans is you can trust the sports gods are going to line these teams up again. Its going to happen. You go back to Russell, Wes, and Magic and Bird; its going to happen, that’s just how sports are. Whether its 20 years from now or 30 years from now its going to happen and when it does we will all sit back and enjoy it.”
Re: Recollection game 7 2002: “Being in a time out going into the 4th quarter with the guys and just huddling together and saying I have no idea how we are going to figure this thing out, but we are going to figure this thing out. That’s my recollection. We just buckled down, we trusted each other and went out and grinded it out. The most beautiful memory I have took place in this locker room back here. When we went down 3-2 and we came in this locker room and we sat there and we were all just kind of like what is happening, this can’t be happening again. I found the humor in it and I started laughing. The guys were looking at me like what is wrong, we are one game from losing and I just said guys listen they kicked our butt, that’s pretty funny, and secondly if we started the season and they told us that all we had to do was go home and win 2 games to be NBA Champions would you take that deal. That’s the one memory that I remember the most from that game 7.”
Re: Draft workout in Boston early on: “First I remember my dad telling me that I had a pre-draft work out in Boston and I was like what??!! Why would you do that to me??!! What kind of dad does that!!?? So I went and they had the kit laid out for me and I was just kind of looking at it like am I really about to do this thing and I put it on and I went out and DJ (Dennis Johnson) was there, who I learned a lot from. I became extremely comfortable, I respected the franchise and history so much that I worked as hard as I could in the workout, I really wanted to impress them because of the legacy. If they decided to draft me I was going to carry this franchise the way they deserved to be.”
Re: Specific moment that stands out for you playing here: “The Journey song, the Dropkick Murphy song, Phil Collins “I can feel it” playing before the game. Sitting in the locker room you can hear it and you know its about that time. Those three songs, event when they come on the radio I still kind of get that cold sweat going.”
Re: Farewell been like: “Its been different. I’m not used to the applause, its quite a complement. I’ve come to really enjoy it. Its different now to have perspective and bring my head above water and appreciate, not my career, but appreciate the fans and the support and the criticism because it helped drive, drive me. Its more so being thankful of everybody was a part of this entire journey, good, bad or indifferent.”
Re: Celtics getting KG – Lakers Celts meeting up anticipation: “I was excited, but not really. Their roster was a mixture of young players, veteran players, nasty, tough players. At the same time I was extremely excited because might have an opportunity to live out this childhood dream of the Lakers and the Celtics. Then when you are in that situation, especially in 2010, its like I don’t want to be the player years from now where the Lakers lost twice against the Celtics; I don’t want to be that guy. There was a lot of pressure to not let that happen.”
Re: What will you be thinking about tonight: “Stay loose. Honestly I spend like 90% of my time trying to stay loose and making sure my ankles don’t lock up. I’ll gaze up, I’ll look at the banners a lot. I’ll scan the crowd a lot and try to soak it all in as much as possible. Its always cool when I come here, I always look up into the rafters and scan the crowd and always appreciate the sea of green. I’ll be doing that quite a bit tonight. This building is a place that really pushed me to win those 2 championships. This place has a lot of memories; good ones, bad ones, weird ones.”
Re: How to handle tour physically/emotionally: “I talked to Jeter (Derek) a little bit. He and I are just different people. From that standpoint there’s really no body I can talk to about this situation.”
Re: Time to digest Michael Jordan comments: “Yea. I’m really appreciative of him. It was really cool for him to do that. He’s about as social as I am so for him to take the time to record that message really means a lot. I think a lot of people have always thought that he and I have always had this rivalry and its the most ridiculous thing. I couldn’t have achieved what I’ve achieved without him being in my corner and being able to call him and pick his brain about things; it was pretty cool for him to record that message.”