The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced its 2020 Class and, as expected, Paul’s long-time teammate Kevin Garnett was among those who got the call.
The 2020 class will include a trio of NBA Legends: Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan, WNBA legend Tamika Catchings as well as coaches Rudy Tomjanovich, Eddie Sutton, Barbara Stevens and Kim Mulkey and former FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann.
Garnett joined SportsCenter on Sunday to discuss the announcement and was pleasantly surprised by the addition of Paul to the discussion by the ESPN crew.
“I’m just happy I had the opportunity to play with this guy, win a championship with him. We knew each other in high school, won a big tournament in high school. And to see it come full circle to the NBA, and now he’s being enshrined into the Hall of Fame, this is unbelievable, just to be able to say I was able to bless the same court with him,” Paul said. “Everybody knows his intensity and this is something I can attest to: this did not start in the NBA. I had a chance to play with him on the high school level, we were juniors in high school, and I’ve never seen someone just so passionate for the game. Every second he stepped on the court it meant something. He went as hard as he could. He never cheated the game.”
Watch below as Paul and KG reflect and discuss the Hall of Fame announcement:
Later, Truth joined SC At Night to elaborate about his introduction to Kevin Garnett during that AAU Tournament, teaching the South Carolina kid about big city life and more of his favorite memories of KG.
“When he got [to Boston] you felt the presence. He changed the whole culture,” Paul said. “It was like a breath of fresh air… The intensity just went up around the whole franchise, and I credit that to him.”
Watch Paul discuss ditching a cab fare in Vegas on his first trip out with Kevin, KG joining the Celtics and a memorable disagreement between the two.
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