Avery Bradley, Mickael Pietrus, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen

Boston Celtics', from left, Avery Bradley, Mickael Pietrus, from France, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen walk off the court during a break in the action in the first half of an NBA basketball game with the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday, March 7, 2012 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

(Alex Brandon)

SPRINGFIELD -- Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley has become one of the best defenders in the NBA, and he's a supremely confident player.

Just ask him.

But when he was first drafted by the Boston Celtics in 2010 after one year at Texas, he found himself playing alongside multiple veteran Hall of Famers, players he watched growing up as a young basketball player in Seattle.

"I was really scared," Bradley said at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday. "I would come into the locker room and I wouldn't speak. Ray Allen played for the Seattle Sonics when I was in seventh grade. Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal) got drafted in 1992? I was born in 1990. I walked into the locker room and I didn't talk for weeks."

Bradley's hesitance was understandable -- included in that locker room was Kevin Garnett, who had little patience for Bradley's rookie mistakes. Bradley said he avoided getting into practices and running plays for fear of making a mistake, but one day, point guard Rajon Rondo forced him to run with the second unit.

"I got in there and missed a layup, and KG cussed me out," Bradley said. "Every single day he saw me, he would cuss me out."

Bradley soon found himself in the D-League, playing for the Maine Red Claws. When he returned, he said Doc Rivers ended practice early on consecutive days after Bradley dunked on Kendrick Perkins and O'Neal.

"KG and Rondo were like, 'You're ready for the league now,'" Bradley said. "The things KG did for me, it was a lot. Those are my brothers. KG doesn't talk to many people. KG's not very nice."

Garnett's tough love for Bradley appears to have sunk in. On Friday, Bradley said he not only doesn't fear practice any more, he doesn't fear any of the league's top guards. He said he's ready for whatever challenge the league throws at him. Those challenges might include Stephen Curry's unbelievable range, Kyrie Irving's handle or Damian Lillard's offensive versatility.

They also might include acquiring a keepsake from one of his most influential mentors.

"This year, I was telling my teammates when we were playing in Minnesota, I was like, 'I don't think KG's gonna give me a jersey,'" Bradley said. "My teammates were like, 'Man, what? He doesn't talk to nobody but you. He's gonna give you a jersey.' I asked one of the ball boys and he was like, 'He just turned down Jeff Green. He's not giving one to anybody.' So I asked, and KG wrote me a letter like, 'I love you. This jersey is for you, keep working hard.' He wrote me a letter, and now I have his jersey up at my house."

So maybe Garnett isn't nice to most people. Bradley should probably consider himself lucky.