The Boston Celtics were the defending champions going into the 2008-09 NBA season after dispatching the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals in six games and dominating the 2007-08 regular season with a league best 66-16 record.

With the team’s big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce Ray Allen returning along with many of their supporting cast from their title season, it might not come as a surprise that the team was confident and in good spirits as they swaggered into the 2008-09 season.

We got a lot more of detail and color commentary how wild that season was when Brian Scalabrine showed up to the 2/26/2021 episode of ESPN’s The Lowe Post podcast.

According to the “White Mamba” that Celtics roster was placing money on everything on and off the court no unlike online gambling sites like Indiana Unibet. Scalabrine told Lowe that the team wagered on nearly everything from free throws and whether someone would make a shot during the game or not, to not-so-surprisingly, to dice and card games.

“It was like a constant casino…” Scalabrine said of that wild season.

Big Baby: Undefeated Arm Wrestling King

The extent of who, what, when and how the Celtics players would put money on just about anything, the team began having arm wrestling matches as they traveled on the team’s plane during the season.

When it came to arm wrestling, Glen “Big Baby” Davis was winning all the money; crushing all challengers. Scalabrine didn’t say who Davis defeated, but that Celtics team not only had Scalabrine on the team, but also Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe and Tony Allen. It was a tough minded team. To that point, Davis beat Eddie House so bad that House hurt his shoulder from it.

One night, on the team’s flight back after playing the Toronto Raptors, Garnett was feeling particularly hype and decided to challenge Davis’ crown. “Come on Funk, let’s do this!” Garnett yelled at Big Baby. The entire team was excited and saw an opportunity to make some easy money on a match between the undefeated champion who happened to also be the team’s heaviest player (6’9 and nearly 300 pounds) taking on Garnett who was relatively thinner (6’11, 250).

Seeing an opportunity to ramp up the stakes, Pierce yells over the ruckus that was created by KG’s challenge and says, “I’ll bet $2,000 on Big Ticket for anybody who wants in!”

Of course, the players (and Doc Rivers too, according to Scalabrine) take Pierce up his boast because there’s the odds that Garnett can take down the much bigger and more experienced Davis in arm wrestling was very, very low.

Easy money, right? Not so fast.

Kevin Garnett and Glen Davis Lock Arms

Before the match, Garnett set some new guidelines for the match. You see, KG noticed that Davis was holding onto the table during previous arm wrestling matches and he considered that a “cheat”. Garnett says that in order to keep this as fair as possible – and increasing his odds to win — that Big Baby must keeps his arm up in the air.

So match starts and the two players’ arms are locked. Of course, Garnett is trash talking the entire time and putting up a better fight than any Celtic imagined. As on the court, Garnett he won’t let up on his opponent.

Eventually, Big Baby begins to sweat. Garnett sees that Davis is struggling and amps up his trash talking, “YEAH, I GOT YOU KNOW YOU BIG A** MOT**********R!” Garnett screams as he strains. The two are going at it for what seems like forever until Davis finally gives in. Garnett lets out a scream and shit talks his teammates for ever doubting him: “ALL Y’ALL M**********RS BETTER TAKE NOTICE! I’M THE SILVERBACK GORILLA IN THIS M***************R AND DON’T NONE OF Y’ALL EVER FORGET IT!”

Even though the vast majority of the players (and staff) that wagered on the match lost money, it didn’t stop everyone from laughing, smiling, whooping it up and going wild over Garnett’s upset win as Pierce counts his money.

The pilot comes on the intercom: “Congratulations Kevin Garnett!”

Strength, Stamina, and Heart

What did we learn here? The Celtics has a lot of fun that season. We also learned that size and (perceived) strength will — for good reason — often be favored in matches of physicality, but don’t forget to factor heart and stamina especially in unrelenting competitors like Kevin Garnett. If you paid attention to the NBA a decade ago, this isn’t the first time that Garnett intimidated Davis into submission.

The Boston Celtics would end up being one of the top teams in the 2008-09 season finishing with a 62-20 record and winning their division. They would ultimately be eliminated  by the Orlando Magic in the NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals in seven games.