In the 2007 NBA offseason, the Boston Celtics had traded for 10 time All-Star and 2004 League MVP Kevin Garnett to start him alongside Paul Pierce and recently acquired Ray Allen. Thus the “Big 3” era in Boston basketball had begun. 6 years later, after winning a championship their first year and Ray Allen leaving the offseason before, the era came to an end when the Celtics traded these 2 Hall of Famers to the Brooklyn Nets, shaking up the entire NBA world in hopes of rebuilding for the future.
On January 26th, 2014 the Brooklyn Nets traveled to Boston to face the Celtics in their first game in Boston playing against the Celtics since the trade. Many were wondering how much emotion would be shown by these two, being as Paul Pierce had played for 15 years and Kevin Garnett for 6 in Boston, many figured there may be a whole lot of emotion which may affect the way they play. After each of their video tributes played for their years there, and the standing ovations that each one received from the Boston faithful, they still had to play a basketball game. It was obvious that this emotion affected their play as they each scored only 6 points, but the Nets were able to defeat the rebuilding Celtics.
So in the end, regardless of the outcome of the game it was nice to be able to have the Celtics fans give their appreciation for what these two legendary Celtic players did for the organization and move forward.