Dwyane Wade Says 2008 Boston Celtics Featuring Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce Exaggerated Success

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

The 2008 Boston Celtics were largely the first of their kind when they paired Paul Pierce with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

The Celtics won a championship in their first season together but were unable to accomplish much the remainder of their time together. Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade went far as saying the Celtics exaggerated their success despite fielding a team of three All-Stars.

"You won’t see a lot of Boston Celtics 2008 that come together in one year and win a championship," Wade said on his "A Wine Down" podcast. "Because ain’t no habits been built really. That’s a special year for those guys that’s why that one championship that they won feel like when they talk to you they feel like they won 12."

In the Celtics' defense, they were on pace for a repeat until Garnett went down with an injury. He returned in time for the postseason but they were knocked off by the Orlando Magic in the second round.

In 2010, the Celtics lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals in seven games. Their era basically ended there once the Heat formed a team with Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. The Heat eliminated the Celtics in 2011 and 2012 before Allen joined them in 2013.

"Yeah you feel like when you hear Paul [Pierce] and them talking you be like ‘How many championships did you win’. Yeah, shoutout to the `08 Boston Celtics. They did something special. But we stopped all that."'

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Inside The Heat. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com


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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here