Check it out. Its pretty cool. http://espn.go.com/magazine/palmer_20020715.html Reinventing Kevin Garnett by Chris Palmer ESPN The Magazine In a single July day, The Magazine's Chris Palmer was exposed to both extremes of Kevin Garnett. The Timberwolves' happy-go-lucky kid is contrasted by a fierce, dangerously passionate competitor with a sharp tongue -- someone who might scare you silly if he didn't come pre-wrapped in cuddly YMCA-kid-next-door package. This is the Garnett you don't know about. Yet. The day starts out with Kevin the Fierce. Well, sort of. I arrive at Hutton Gym on the campus of Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., where KG is shooting his new And 1 spot. The commercial, which begins airing Monday night, is loosely based on the interrogation scene in Scarface, his favorite movie. The theme: KG calls into question his doubts and weaknesses by grilling himself mercilessly. "I have to do everything for this team." But KG is nowhere to be found. It's 10:30 and already 95 degrees. The production crew has crudely taped up a wall of plastic to form a makeshift hallway at one end of the gym. Outside, a huge generator is pumping in some seriously frigid air. Not that it's working. The plastic tunnel leads to a small stuffy room that will serve as the set's primary location: the interrogation room. By noon it's an inferno. Garnett shows up at 12:30. He grabs a little something from the food-service table, then heads to wardrobe to pick something from his line. Director Chris Robinson holds what seems to be an endless stream of production meetings. Robinson has a list of about 100 scripted questions aimed at pushing Garnett's buttons. Production assistants scurry about, routing cable, shouting in walkie-talkies and banging the sides of monitors that don't act right. At 2:45 it is announced that cameras will roll in 20 minutes. An hour later KG enters the interrogation room. He sits in an unforgiving steel chair at a table in the middle of the room. Robinson gives Kevin a few last-minute instructions before the cameras roll. "Relax, be yourself, be real," says Robinson. "No doubt. Let's do the damn thing," KG replies. After Garnett gets settled, Robinson reads his prepared questions off camera. Garnett's answers are unscripted, shocking, refreshing and serious. What follows is part of the interrogation. Q: Are you overpaid? KG: Hell no. If anything I'm underpaid, with everything I do. That's a ridiculous question. I have to do everything for this team. Q: Are you tough enough to play in the Western Conference? Maybe Minnesota should move to the East. KG: Man, I've been in the Western Conference for seven years. Holdin' it down. Nobody there scares me. Look at my numbers. You know my rap sheet. Q: What are your numbers? KG: Twenty, ten and five. Twenty, ten and five. Three years in a row. And I'm rounding down. Who else has done that? Q: What does that get you? KG: It gets you what it gets you. Q: Does it get you out of the first round? KG: We'll get out of the first round when everybody does their part. Players, coaches, management, everybody. I can't do everything by myself. It'll get us past the first round if m-----------s do their part. Don't tell KG he's soft in the 4th. Q: Word on the street is that you're soft in the fourth quarter. KG: F--- you talkin' about? That's not what I hear. Q: What do you hear? KG: That KG is the m---------ing s---. *****s know. My peers in the league know what I'm about. Q: What have you learned about the fourth quarter? KG: To not pass the ball if we're losing. Q: Did it hurt you when your idols criticized you? [During the playoffs, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley were highly critical of Garnett for not "stepping up" in the fourth quarter.] KG: That was just them being d---s. They were just looking for a camera. Besides, they're not my idols anyway. Q: Has Kobe ever dunked on you? KG: That's a stupid question. No. Kobe has never dunked on me in his life. Q: Are you and Wally better than Kobe and Shaq? KG: [Long pause] No … it hurts me to say it but we're not. I just … [sigh] ... we just aren't. Q: Why did you skip college? KG: At the time I felt like going pro was the only way I was going to make something of my life. Besides college ain't s---. It's like slavery, they're trying to f--- the kids. You gotta get your education but I made a decision for me. This past season KG made the All-Interview first team. This might just put him in the Hall of Fame. After taking the questions, Garnett was filmed pacing around the table, asking the questions, to complete the "KG grills KG" aspect of the commercial. By 6 o'clock, he was exhausted. "What you just saw was all me," he said. "That's just how I'm feeling right now. Now is the time. This is me, what you see. I feel like it's time for all the bull---- to stop. I'm ready to do my part." Moments later, KG was in his Ferrari Spyder heading home to shower and change. Robinson, the director, emerged from the set with a look of disbelief. "Man, that's a serious cat," he says. "That was pure KG. You just saw his real passion." (That passion is a bit muted in the finished commercial, but viewers will still get the point.) Nine hours after I arrived at the gym, I was out of there. After a quick pit stop at the hotel I'm scooped up by Michael Moore, KG's pal and business manager of his Official Block Family clothing line. Destination: Ruth's Chris Steak House. They close at 10, and it's already 10:15. When KG's in the house, they close when KG leaves. He's on a first-name basis with all the waitresses and the chefs keep the kitchen open until our posse of 10 is way past stuffed. A few years ago the T-Wolves used to eat here as a team 35 nights out of the season. Last season they ate here once. "It ain't like it used to be," says KG. Anyway, the staff is glad to see him again. KG takes a seat at the head of the table. He's sporting a brand new Sixers Moses Malone jersey from the '82-'83 season. His mood banged a U-turn since the shoot. Gone is the junk-spewing interrogation suspect. KG and his boys are on total joke time. The conversation is boisterous and there's a comeback for every cutdown. Topics shift from the greatest rapper of all time to Iverson's infamous crossover on Jordan when Bubba Chuck was a rookie. The table declares Tupac the best deceased rapper and Jay-Z the king of the living. "They could be on this topic for hours," says Moore. But when someone says Tupac could have run for president in his heyday, everyone decides it's best to change the subject. How about boxing? "Mike Tyson invented the 30-second knockout," declares KG's boy, DJ Set Free. "Yeah, but he also invented the get-your-ass-pummeled-by-Lennox-Lewis-and-get-knocked-the-hell-out-in-the-8th-round," KG quips. He slaps shut his menu and orders the New York strip, lobster, a Caesar salad and a Coke. He's 7foot-1 and still growing. But his eyes are bigger than his stomach and he takes his leftovers home in a doggie bag. After dinner, KG pulls aside one of his crew who has been especially quiet tonight. The kid looks way too young to hang with this crowd, but Garnett tries to make him feel accepted. His name is Michael Mason and he's 17. He's also KG's adopted son. KG is feeling good and proceeds to rag one of the homeys for his recent lack of skill in the batting cage. He imitates all three strikes, nearly twisting himself into the ground in the middle of the restaurant. Next he's in somebody else's face about something, sticking his tongue out and doing some dance that's a cross between the funky chicken and a deranged bobblehead. But no one seems to notice. "We're used to it," says Free. "That's just him." His friends will tell you this is when he's at his best. When he can be plain old Kevin. Not the Franchise. Not the Big Ticket. Not Da Kid or The Man. Just Kevin. The guy who thinks he's still on the asphalt playgrounds of Mauldin, S.C. Our crew heads for the door 2½ hours after closing. Walking out in single file, Kevin is about mid-pack when his eyes get big. He spots the candy dish at the front counter. "Mints!" he exclaims. He reaches one of his Spalding-palming hands in the bowl and scoops out a massive helping and stuffs them deep in his pocket. Enough to last a month. I go to grab a few when his five-finger crane scoops again. And again. He presses his jeans against his leg, revealing a bulge of mints in his pocket the size of a football. "Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about," he says, as he bobs out the door to the Ferrari waiting by the curb. I had no idea I could fit in a Ferrari. But here I am in the passenger seat with room to spare. KG zips his hat backwards and comfortably dips into the driver's seat. "Here, hold this," he says as he tosses the doggie bag in my lap. He fires up the beast and the stereo nearly blasts my face off. KG lets out a satisfied chuckle. I meant to do that.
Oh thats just great. KG shooting a commercail were he drops F bombs and N bombs, not to mention calling out the rest of his team and the orginization. That should work out just fine. He's not overpaid? He's the s**t in the 4th? N****s know what he's about in the clutch? LOL ! Yeah KG, I'm a brotha and I know what you're about in the 4th. Pissing on yourselg b/c deep down you don't want the responsibilty of winning a game. Is this the same player that turned the ball over twice in the final 30sec v. the Rockets this year to single-handedly loose the game for his squad? Not to mention the playoffs. Its funny to hear a guy how takes up half his team's salary cap by himself call out the rest of the orginization for not doing enough to win. Yes they screwed up their drafts for the next few years but they did it trying to sign KG's boy Joe Smith (who sucks by the way). If KG's supposed to be a superstar then he should take more responsibility for everything that goes down w/ the TWolves instead of seperating himself from it and trying to make himself look like he's better than the rest of the orginization.
I AM SO SICK OF THAT IDIOT! Taylor, or whoever is running the Minnesota team brass, should organize a backroom deal with David Stern: trade or sell Garnett to a big-market team in return for the restoration of the team's draft picks. Garnett makes himself out to be a moron and team-bashing ******* (well, nowadays, who doesn't?) and his salary is stifling the team. With the Larry Bird exception, it can grow even more ridiculous in a few years. Garnett isn't worth half of what he's making. Without any real point-guard, the team hopes that defenses collapse on him so he could find the cutter or open man on the perimeter (how else can Szczerbiak shoot at over 50% accuracy?). He puts up big numbers, but much of it comes from outside shooting and he isn't nearly as effective as Nowitzki, another tall-mobile small forward but with better ball-handling skills. He is a role-player. On the other hand, he is the center of team defense, effective both inside and on the perimeter, and admittedly the team needs a bigger interior presence if they are to win more games. On the other hand, this would hurt the rebounding/shot-blocking stats that Garnett is so proud of. Oh, and Doug West was by far the greatest player in Timberwolves' franchise history (in all seriousness, I think he is still their second-leading scorer!). Well, maybe Scott Brooks would come close if he had played for them longer...
I always thought there was something wrong with KG and now I know there is. I have no doubt about it. That article proves me right. I mean C'mon, Jay-Z the best living rapper. Nas tore him a new one and Jay-z couldn't come back with anything good. And after all, we all know that Eminem is the best rapper in the game right now and one of the top five rappers of all time.
KG is a loser. No matter how many cuss words he wants to use to deny it, he's an f-ing loser along with Chris Webber. Underpaid? Looks like KG has already forgotten about his roots... KG has a massive ego for a guy who has yet to get past the 1st round. I really thought KG was one of the supposed "good guys" until I read that crap. At first I thought it was a joke, because of the absurdity of 100% of his comments.
Eminem sucks. He is just the token white dude that little white middle class kids can associate with. Kinda like Vanilla Ice with more attitude.
Actually Jayz completely destroyed Nas. Listen to the Blue Print album. Eminem is a good lyricist but his rapping isnt up to par with Jay Z.
Blueprint came out after Stillmatic... Nas trashes him in "Ether". Jay-Z did destroy Nas in Blueprint though.
Are you sure? I thought it was after. A bunch of songs from blueprint were running on hot 97 here in nyc way way before the album was released (ironically sept 11). Anyway, Ether is totally lame. He calls Jay-z a "Tae-bo Ho". Please. Back to the topic, I saw the commercial today. I can't believe they reported it as if it were a regular fact based interview. It's like reporting "Anthony Hopkins Admits to Murder, Cannibalism" after being on the set of silence of the lambs.
Oops... I mean Blueprint came out BEFORE Stillmatic. Stillmatic came out in Dec. What I meant was that Jay Z hasn't responded yet (that I know of). It will be interesting to see how he responds. How did this "feud" start? Or is it just some ploy to sell records?
I think theres an mtv special about it which I am sure they will repeat at some point in their diverse programing lineup of osbornes and real world. Anyway, I think it started with an interview or concert or something where Jay or one of his stable (Memphis Bleek or Beanie Sigel) said something derogatory about Nas being a one hit wonder or something, and so it went on from their with dueling interviews on Hot 97 on Funkmaster Flex' show. So Bleek and Sigel did a lot of the bashing and then Jay came out with Takeover from blueprint and then Ether was the response. Then, Jay had a response that he delivered on the air on Funk Flex' show which I didn't catch, but I understand that a lot of people were disappointed by. I think it has pretty much fizzled out since. What is most pathetic about it all is that I actually know all this crap.
mav-I saw that MTV special like 4 or 5 months ago with Sway or whoever that tool is. But, I had forgotten how it started. I just knew that there was a "rivalry".
Good, god. Will you ever get off Eminem's d**k? {note: inside joke, not personal poster insult) We both know Cannibus would tear him a new one. "Oooo, I dissed, Moby, boy-bands, and my own wife. I'm badass." Eminem's pansy ass needs to do something crazy to get my respect for his battling credentials back...like go after Suge Knight.
The Jay-Z v. Nas feud started when Memphis Bleek dissed Nas on the song "Got My Mind Right". The Nas was on the radio dissin roc-a-fella so Jay made a diss record. Its a close call for me. They both called eachother out for not being "real" about what they were doing before they go they blew up. Jay killed Nas & Prodigy on "Takeover" but Nas got at him pretty good on "Stillmatic" & "Either". Jay-Z's reponse "Super Ugly" was wack though. So I give the slight edge to Nas b/c he had 2 solid records compared to Jigga's 1. Hey mav3434, you live in NYC? Damn I lived in New York for a year in 2000-2001 before I moved by to H-town. What burough do you live in? Live from the 718 right here!
Sorry stylez, I'm all about manhattan and 212. Well, I actually couldn't get a 212 number at home, so it's really 646 or 917, which doesn't quite carry the same weight.
Brooklyn is in the house, but I did work in Manhattan so its all good . The coolest thing I did was catch the Knicks play the Rocks at MSG. It was Francis' rookie year and he dropped 33 on the Bricks. He had some a couple of great dunks including an alley from Walt and hit 3 straight threes and had the crowd oohing and ahhing. The Rockets took them down to the wire but loss by like 5. Man I thought I was gonna catch a major beatdown cuz I was cheering for the Rocks the whole time. Back on the subject, Garnett is whack and I'm glad we have players who like being here and like eachother and the orginization.
No way you guys can say Eminem sucks. He is one of the best lyricist out there. I agree that Cannibus is very good but I don't think he has ever done anything really impressive. What song on "The Blueprint" did Jay-z talk about Nas? Speaking of battles, have you guys heard Xzibit's response to the JD track? Even though it is short, that is one of the best battle raps I have ever heard. He tore him a new one. I don't see anyway that JD can't respond to that one.
