Rivalries are inevitable in sports, and the competition often adds to the fun of the game.
The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat have one of the strongest rivalries in the NBA. And the intense competition between the squads throughout the years has created individual rivalries between each team’s players.
Celtics forward Kevin Garnett was at the center of one of the largest on-court rivalries with Heat forward Udonis Haslem. Garnett would often trash talk Miami, which seemed to frustrate Haslem.
“I always had an ultimate respect for KG’s (Garnett) game, but I couldn't get down with the s*** talking,” Haslem said on the Pat McAfee Show.
“There's, ‘I cooked your a**.’ But when you start calling people names, now we're in a whole other conversation,” Haslem added.
"Kevin Garnett talked a lot of shit and we're cool now..
The beef is cooked but it took a while"@ThisIsUD #PMSLive https://t.co/ZrQfjsH3tK pic.twitter.com/ma92nXcDlS
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 19, 2025
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Haslem spent his entire 20-season NBA career with the Heat, so his animosity toward the Celtics is no surprise. Meanwhile, Garnett joined Boston for the 2007-08 season and stayed for six years with the Celtics.
Now, both forwards have retired from the NBA. Haslem retired most recently after the 2022-23 season, whereas Garnett retired following the 2015-16 season.
Haslem said their retirements have allowed the pair to mend their relationship.
“Me and KG finally, I'm two, three years into retirement, he's how many years of retirement. [We’re] finally, at a point where we could hash that s*** out and we cool. Now the beef is cooked,” Haslem said.
However, it was not easy for the two to make amends. Haslem said he disliked Garnett’s trash talking because it did not align with how he was raised.
“It took a while, and that s***, it was personal, because I don't come from a place or era, and my daddy ain't raise no motherf****ing punk, where you could just say anything and think it's okay,” Haslem said. “I wasn't raised like that. I wasn't raised where you can just say anything on the basketball court.”
Garnett infamously called Miami forward Chris Bosh a "mama's boy" and also made his own teammates and Washington Wizards center Andray Blatche cry with his harsh words.
But it has been almost a decade since Garnett has played in the NBA. Since then, he has healed his relationship with Haslem and founded the Anything is Possible Fund to support individuals affected by inequalities in education, criminal justice and more.
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