During his six NBA seasons with the Boston Celtics, Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett set the tone as a feisty emotional leader for the storied franchise.
During a recent appearance on his “KG Certified” podcast, Garnett indicated that he is not happy with how the tone is being set in the current Celtics locker room, specifically referencing the music choices that Boston players select before games.
If you ask Garnett, rap superstar Drake should not be on the Celtics’ pregame playlist under any circumstances.
“It’s tone, man. In the locker room I feel like you gotta put some [DMX] on in there,” Garnett said on his podcast. “[Boston Celtics head coach] Joe Mazzula, if you listening to me, man, change that locker room music from that Drake.”
It is interesting that Garnett’s alternative choice to Drake was DMX, given the complicated relationship the rappers had while DMX was alive.
DMX, who died from a drug overdose in 2021 at the age of 50, once went viral during a 2012 radio interview on “The Breakfast Club” after expressing his disdain for Drake.
“I don’t like anything about Drake,” DMX infamously said in the viral 2012 interview. “I don’t like his f-cking voice. I don’t like what he talks about. I don’t like his face. I don’t like the way he walks, like nothing. I don’t like his haircut.”
However, after Drake wanted to use a sample of DMX’s song and voice on his 2016 track “U With Me,” the pair seemingly reconciled and spoke on the phone in what DMX would later call a “humbling experience” during another interview on “The Breakfast Club” four years after his viral dig at Drake.
“Shout out to Drizzy, I f-ck with you, but there’s a time and place for [his music],” Garnett said on his podcast episode. “That’s for when we chilling. When [N-words] get out on the court, I’m trying to take your head off out here.”
Garnett won the lone NBA championship of his 21-season career during the 2007-08 campaign after being traded to the Celtics from the Minnesota Timberwolves. In Boston, Garnett formed a “Big 3” with former Celtics All-Stars Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.
The Celtics eventually traded Garnett and Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets in 2013. Garnett would make his way back to the Timberwolves, via a trade, in February 2015 before retiring the following year. The center was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.
Drake, who in May surpassed Michael Jackson for the most No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 by a male solo artist, celebrated his 40th birthday in New York City last weekend by hosting multiple private parties.
Although they lost their season opener to the Detroit Pistons on Oct. 20, the Celtics immediately rebounded with a winning streak and sat at 3-1 entering NBA action on Oct. 30.
