J.R. Giddens Interview: Why He Wished the Celtics Didn’t Draft Him

The man of the hour this Sunday afternoon will see his No. 5 jersey heading up to Boston Celtics basketball Valhalla to hang amongst the rafters, The Big Ticket’s big day finally arriving after the Celtics play the Dallas Mavericks on March 13.

And with that caliber event that will see Hall of Fame Boston big man Kevin Garnett be immortalized forever in Celtics lore, we had to record a special edition of the CLNS Media “Celtics Lab” podcast with a teammate of his from the two seasons following the winning of Banner 17. That teammate would be Boston alum JR Giddens, who took some time to regale us with some stories of what it was like to play with a living legend.

Giddens also gives us an insight into how it was fighting for playing time on a team with designs on deep postseason runs and a coach notorious for not playing younger players — as well as what advice he’d give current Celtics dealing with not so different issues themselves.

We even get into the University of New Mexico product’s current coaching career and his time playing overseas, so be sure to check out this special edition of the pod in honor of KG’s big event.