New Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Garnett is paying respect to an old friend via his uniform number.
New York Post beat reporter Tim Bontemps tweeted Saturday that Garnett has decided to wear No. 2 in Brooklyn in honor of Sealy,
"Garnett will wear No. 2 - not 21, his old number in Minnesota - in Brooklyn," Bontemps tweet said.
Sealy and Garnett were close friends who played one full year together for the Minnesota Timberwolves, according to USA Today. Sealy died on May 24. 2000 when a pickup truck, driving on the wrong way of a highway, collided head-on with his sport-utility vehicle.
The 30-year-old Sealy was on his way home from Garnett's 24th birthday party.
According to a report on Sealy's death, Garnett once said Sealy had been one of his favorite players while Sealy was playing at St. John's and Garnett was an eighth-grader in Mauldin, S.C. He even wore Sealy's No. 21 that year.
"I wasn't the most confident guy at that time, and I was trying to find someone who was another me. Not the best player, but someone who played like me," Garnett said in January 1999. "With Malik, I just related to his body."
Before his death, Sealy also sold a fine line of clothing and was an actor, appearing on TV shows, "The Sentinel" and "Diagnosis: Murder," and the movie, "Eddie."
As Bontemps reported, Garnett also wore No. 21 when he joined the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1995. Sealy wore No. 2 with the Timberwolves.
Garnett wore No. 5 during his six-year stay with the Boston Celtics. The No. 2 jersey in Boston is retired in honor of late coach Red Auerbach. Garnett led the Celtics to their 17th championship during the 2007-08 season.
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