Kevin Garnett’s Bizarre Pre-Game Rituals Like Hating on Unknown Opponents Became ‘Contagious’ for Celtics, Says Kendrick Perkins

Warm-ups are essential before the game and some player’s routines even get the fans pumped up. Everybody knows about the famous chalk toss ritual from LeBron James. Even though Kevin Garnett doesn’t want to give the credit for that to the LA Lakers superstar. But the Boston Celtics legend got the credit from his former teammate for a pre-game routine that helped the team lock-in. KG had a couple of rituals himself. His most famous one would be when he used to pound his head on a padded bolster, sometimes punching it with his clenched fists.

Kendrick Perkins recently spoke about the intensity that Kevin Garnett brought to the table. Perkins said KG taught him a lot and even called him “the definition of that term locked in.” Perkins and Garnett shared the locker room for 4 seasons and the 15x NBA All-Star was an idol to Perkins even before he arrived in ‘Beantown’.

Garnett followed his routine to the T, from getting taped up to eating spaghetti. He would even use the weight room at the same time before the game as per Perkins. This ritual turned contagious for the whole team as KG was a leader. He even started a narrative when during the pre-game speech he would say to himself “Y’all don’t like that MF over there.” Which was a shock for Perkins.

“And he was like he’ll just instantly pick somebody from the other team that he’ll say he didn’t like. And ‘I’m like you don’t even know the dude‘,” said Perkins, via the 62nd episode of the Mark Jackson Show. Perkins considered Kevin Garnett his idol so even he would make sure to follow everything and call those days his best.

“Man, I’m telling you it was, it was, it was the best thing that happened for me.” The rituals helped them create a mindset where the Celtics won the Championship in KG’s first year. Perkins credits Garnett for the shift in mindset thanks to his rituals. While ‘The Big Ticket’ is credited for his pre-game tradition, he doesn’t think LeBron James should be credited for the Chalk Toss routine.

Kevin Garnett credits the “GOAT” for the powder routine

LeBron James’ chalk toss is legendary as fans get on the act with the Lakers superstar. It has been so popular that it has become a tool for marketing on billboards. However, Kevin Garnett feels that the due credit should be given to the GOAT Michael Jordan. He even shared the story of how he got inspired by Jordan in his book.

“When he came into the league in ’84, he had this ritual. Right before tip-off, he’d dump some chalk on his hands to help with his grip and dust it off at the scorer’s table,” Kevin Garnett wrote in his book ‘KG: A to Z An Uncensored Encyclopedia of Life, Basketball, and Everything in Between’. And a year ago, he even shared a story from a video of SportsCenter on Instagram.

“Ever wonder where we all get the powder routine from…got from the GOAT himself…MJ…” Kevin Garnett was once very particular in pointing out that Michael Jordan started the trend. But no one can deny that LeBron James gave it his own spin and made it iconic.

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