What Celtics ownership, former teammates said of Kevin Garnett ahead of jersey retirement

“Everything changed the minute KG walked into the first practice,” Grousbeck said in a press release. “A lot of people contributed to the championship, but KG would simply not let us lose that year. He is one of my very favorite people and very favorite Celtics.”

Celtics co-owner and alternate governor Steve Pagliuca gave similar thoughts on Garnett.

“KG embodies the heart and soul of what it means to be a Celtic,” Pagliuca said. “His selflessness and team leadership were critical to bringing a 17th banner back to Boston. He proved that nothing is impossible when you play as a team and trust each other. He is simply the best.”

Several of Garnett’s former teammates are in attendance for Sunday’s game ahead of the ceremony, including Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.

With most of the 2008 NBA championship team at TD Garden on Sunday, Kendrick Perkins recalled how Garnett set the culture in Boston.

“It was just the tone that he set; the sacrifice and things of that nature,” Perkins said on NBC Sports Boston. “I always tell people that KG was the one that established the whole sacrifice. He took a backseat to everybody, especially to Paul and Ray. He set the identity. He set the culture. He set the mood. There were times where he was ready to go [trade] blows with a couple guys in the locker room, but it was all for a good reason.”

Eddie House, who signed with the Celtics late in the offseason in 2007, acknowledged that the trade for Garnett was a main reason for him to come to Boston. As someone who came off the bench for that Celtics team, House explained what Garnett’s leadership meant to every player, no matter what role they had.

“I’ll tell you one thing about KG, and everyone can attest to this, he’s the hardest working guy,” House said. “For somebody who was the highest-paid, the most money, he was always there before practice sweating, after practice sweating.

“He held everybody accountable. He set the bar so high that everybody that was down low that wasn’t as talented, that wasn’t as gifted, were still able to raise their level of play. That’s why we got a banner up there.”