“That 23 Bron Jersey Was Buried Under the Garden”: Kevin Garnett Elaborates How He Broke LeBron James

LeBron James went through fire during his early NBA career. His trial started with challenging the likes of the Detroit Pistons off their championship heyday in the Playoffs. By the time LeBron became a legitimate contender, a ‘Big 3’ in Boston awaited his arrival.

Kevin Garnett, a member of the ‘Big 3’, along with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, spoke about ‘breaking LeBron’ in 2019. He addressed those comments again on the Load Management podcast, specifically talking about James’s exit from Cleveland in 2010 after losing to Boston in the Playoffs.

“For all you LeBron lovers who don’t know sh*t. Who was actually four or even two years old when I was talking about this and this was going on for probably what? 10? Like what, 12, 13 now? And ‘oh, you didn’t do anything.’ I get it. You’re defending. You love LeBron.

“When we formed in Boston, and you can never get past that. That’s why I say, we took the jersey off in 2010, he buried that jersey under the TD Bank Arena. That 23 Bron jersey was buried under the garden.” 

LeBron James and his maturation against the Boston Celtics

The playoff series between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers was virtually a team of veterans schooling LeBron James. He was winning MVPs, but failing in the Playoffs. However, LeBron wouldn’t have become who he is today without that hard Celtics series.

LeBron has faced Boston in the playoffs six times, losing twice. Both those losses came in his early days with the Cavs, losing a seven-game series in 2008 and then a six-game series in 2010. However, LeBron exacted his revenge on the Celtics Big Three by ending their dynasty in two consecutive post-seasons in Miami (2011, 2012). He is 2-2 against the trio of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Along with that, he also got Allen to team up with him for a ring in 2013.

Without the suffering Boston put on LeBron’s early career, he may have never matured into the superstar we see today. In some ways, we can thank Kevin Garnett for ‘breaking’ LeBron James. He broke him into one of the greatest players ever.