Kobe Bryant's Death Pushed Kevin Garnett to Reconcile with Ray Allen: 'Life is Not Given'

"It would have f---ed with me if something were to happen to Ray and I didn't get a chance to amend this," Garnett said of his former teammate

By
Natasha Dye
Natasha Dye, Writer/Reporter - Sports
Natasha Dye
Natasha Dye is a writer-reporter for PEOPLE covering sports. Her previous work appears in The New York Post and Popstar! Magazine.
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Published on March 23, 2023 01:17PM EDT
Kobe Bryant #24 of the Western Conference All-Stars speaks to Kevin Garnett #5 and Ray Allen #20 of the Eastern Conference All-Stars in the 2011 NBA All-Star Game at Staples Center on February 20, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.
Photo: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty

Kevin Garnett said he and Ray Allen have reconciled after their infamous falling out in 2012, largely because of Kobe Bryant's death in 2020.

During an appearance on Kevin Hart's Cold As Balls, Garnett, 46, said, "It would have f---ed with me if something were to happen to Ray and I didn't get a chance to amend this."

Allen, 47, played with Garnett and Paul Pierce for the Boston Celtics from 2007 until 2012 when he signed with the Miami Heat. Allen's choice to leave caused friction between the star NBA players, who didn't end up reconciling until the NBA's 75th-anniversary event in 2021.

"What made the Ray situation so prolific with us is because the structure we built in Boston, the three of us built that," Garnett said of his time with Allen and Pierce on the Celtics.

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Garnett explained, "I wasn't looking at it like, better business decision for Ray, or Ray has a chance to get another ring. I ain't take on none of that! I was in my own feelings!"

"The passing of Kob and all of us getting older helped me understand that life is not given to none of us," Garnett told Hart, 43. "I got off the bulls---," said Garnett.

Garnett, Allen and Pierce were all selected to the NBA's 75 Anniversary team in 2021, which honored the 75 greatest players of all time according to votes from players, coaches, media and league executives.

Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen of the West All-Star Team talk on the team bus prior to the 2007 West All-Stars Practice at NBA Jam Session Center Court on February 17, 2007 in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty
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When reuniting with Allen, Garnett said he told his former teammates he was "happy" he was there and it was "good to see" him.

"It was actually natural just to see him there and in great health," Garnett said, adding that it was "dope to see" Allen's family growing up. "That's what my focus was."