The 2008 Boston Celtics became one of the best teams in franchise history.
But they haven’t been the same since.
While the 2024-25 Celtics entered Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals trying to keep their season alive without an injured Jayson Tatum, Paul Pierce was The Truth against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2008 Finals.
Kevin Garnett traded Minnesota for the world championship ring that he deserved.
Ray Allen sank 52.4 percent of his 3-pointers in a 4-2 series win over the Lakers, while Rajon Rondo was a gritty point guard who got the best out of Doc Rivers’ team.
There’s no doubt that the Celtics were the best of the best during the 2007-08 campaign.
They went 66-16 in the regular season, smoking the rest of the league before eliminating Atlanta, Cleveland and Detroit on the way to the Finals.
LeBron James couldn’t stand in Boston’s way.
Neither could Bryant, who took twice as many field goal attempts (131) as any of his Lakers teammates but only shot 40.5 percent from the field and 32.1 percent on 3s.
A Game 6 blowout said it all.
GettyPierce still has a big name with Celtics fans[/caption]
Boston destroyed the Lakers 131-92 for the world title.
“It means so much more because these are the guys, the (John) Havliceks, the Bill Russells, the (Bob) Cousys,” Pierce said.
“These guys started what’s going on with those banners. They don’t hang up any other banners but championship ones. And now I’m a part of it.”
A blockbuster 2007 trade for Garnett changed the Celtics, who gave up seven players to get a 31-year-old big man.
A trade for Allen in the same year positioned Boston for Finals greatness.
But after the Celtics hung their 17th banner in the rafters, Boston’s Big Four gradually split apart.
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“As years have gone on, things have been fractured, and I hate it,” Rivers told ESPN in 2018. “I hate seeing it.”
Much of the bitterness centered around Allen, who fell out with Garnett and Rondo.
When Pierce’s jersey was retired by the Celtics, Garnett and Rondo attended the ceremony but Allen didn’t.
Allen’s 2018 induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame also became a question mark for the 2008 Celtics.
“I would love this [to be a] celebration for Ray. Not a lot to say here about it,” Rivers said. “Ray won us a title. He really did.
“I think he should be celebrated. I think he should be celebrated in Boston. He’s responsible for that banner.
AFPDavid Beckham and Justin Timberlake watched the 2008 Finals[/caption]
AFPSylvester Stallone, Eddie Murphy and Steven Spielberg also enjoyed the show[/caption]
“If I had one wish, I wish I could do a better job of getting that group back together. I can get a lot of them back together; I just can’t get the whole group.
“There really should be because they were so close, and it really hurts me to see what’s going on.”
Pierce later wore gold chains with the famous Celtics logo around his neck at a playoff game at TD Garden in the playoffs.
The 2008 Finals MVP, who grew up hating Boston, learned to love all the green.
“I was an avid basketball fan. And growing up in Los Angeles, Inglewood, down the street from The Forum, I couldn’t stand the Celtics,” Pierce told ESPN in 2019.
“I hated the Celtics so much. You understand the rivalry. I hated Larry Bird, I hated everything about the Celtics.”
There have been positive signs that some old wounds from 2008 have healed.
When Garnett’s name was featured in trade rumors before the 2013 season, the future Hall of Famer said, “I bleed green. I die green.”
But as years became a full decade, it was clear that Boston’s triumph in the 2008 Finals ultimately couldn’t hold the Big Four of Pierce, Garnett, Allen and Rondo together.
Tatum’s injury was devastating for the 2025 Celtics.
For many Celtics fans, seeing the Big Four from 2008 happily reunited again would be enough of a triumph.
