I take things DM says increasingly with a grain of salt. His stat-based analysis seems to be wearing thin, and that's from a guy who is giving him full benefit of the doubt with regards to the "mess" he inherited (mess in hindsight, given the injuries). He gets some right, he gets some wrong. I'd have to disagree with him here. KG was a "superstar" from day one. The first of the new wave of high school phenoms. He won an MVP. He was never criticized enough for his inability to lead the Wolves deeper in the playoffs (even understanding the team around him always had some shortcomings). When it's all said and done, he'll be remembered for what you remember him for - a dominating defender and great passer, who was a member of a great Celtics run. Whereas, while the above is true, he should be equally remembered for being too passive an offensive force, for not quite being the consummate teammate others make him out to be and for just being behind a few others that played his same position. He's clearly behind TD. He's clearly behind some of the previouos generation PFs that crossed paths in their careers (Barkley, Malone). I think it's neck and neck with Dirk at the moment, though would lean Dirk if I had to choose. Some of Webber's best seasons are as good if not better than KG's. And Webber had a great, long stretch of dominance, too. Never the defensive force KG was, but not bad there - in 2000/2001 Webber put up 27 ppg, 11 rpg, 4 apg and nearly 2 bpg. On par with KG's MVP year. But I think people will always remember KG as a more "fiery competitor" and better PF, where I think it is a much closer debate. I think you put it a tad too strongly, though can't generally disagree. Defense and passing were his strengths. I'd certainly put him below Olajuwon, Mutombo, Dwight, Dennis Rodman as a defender, but just barely, so that is high praise. Offensively, great court vision, more than capable scorer, but lacked the killer mentality as a scorer that made him less of a force when it matter. But it's nitpicking. It's not ignorant. It's just fact that many many analysts and fans noted immediately after the Perkins trade, and continued to point out. KG is clearly the more important piece than Perkins, but what we came to find out was the Perkins was much much more important to the KG defensive stopper locker room leader story than we thought.
Awesome player. He's said some dumb things before but so has Artest. Only difference is that one was a Rocket. You guys need to let the hate go.
The reason you most likely forgot was because his prime didnt last long. But at his peak c-webb was a monster.
It's always interesting how people let their emotions towards a player's personality cloud their judgement of their impact on the game. This is probably the reason I don't get wrapped up in anyone's responses on players anymore, particularly polarizing figures. I've seen Lebron James go from Michael Jordan to Scottie Pippen, so I'm not surprised by the comments here. Kevin Garnett has had a great career. Probably, the greatest team defender ever.
Agree, and also agree that would have loved him as a Rocket in his prime. Doesn't change the fact that he is one of the biggest punks and doucebags in the history of the game.
So since it was all Kendrick Perkins and apparently none of KG why didn't Boston do damage in the playoffs the year KG was injured?
Dream is far better than any of those four guys. Prime Garnett is EASILY as good or better than those other 3 defensively. His backline communication, advanced defensive rotations and ability to guard every single position flawlessly makes him the perfect defender, not to mention he could grab you a couple steals, blocks and 15 rebounds while rotating to the three-point line to play REAL defense. Dwight and Deke have serious trouble defending pick and rolls. Dennis, while awesome individually, had no where near the same talent when it comes to applying team concepts defensively. The guy was a loner mercenary on the court, playing with the two best defending SG/SF's of ALL TIME... Garnett could put an entire defense on his back for long, long stretches in his prime... Let's not forget that Minny had him playing PG in the playoffs. Do you think he was a tad overmatched? Minny going to the WCF was a huge success for the talent they had.
He's a douchebag because he is a disrespectful, classless punk on the court and might be the most arrogant player in NBA history. I understand some of that is necessary to fuel great players, but he is excessive.
great post, Garnetts weakside defense may be only 2nd to Russell. If he was willing to give up salary (I think the guy was one of the highest paid players ever) earlier in his career, Minny would have been able to surround him with better players than they did.
Exactly. It's the ability to rotate from the 3-point line, switch on anyone and consistently communicate ala Ray Lewis that makes Garnett so special. He has the perfect body and mentality to make all of this possible, too. Totally unique defender. Give me prime Kevin Garnett and Hakeem Olajuwon at the 4/5 to dominate any offense ever made...
You’re right. My mistake in saying all. I later clarified. KG clearly the more important piece…just Perk a lot bigger factor than we previously thought. Agree on Hakeem… but this is partly why I think KG is overrated. Do all of those traits apply to KG? Yes, probably. But are they all as valuable as you make them out to be? No, definitely not. Take Rodman. No, he isn’t as good a team defender, and yes, he had better defenders around him… but I think the value in a guy who is probably/maybe the best PF one on one defender of all time is at least equal to KG’s value in regards to versatility. And Rodman was a better rebounder. Or Deke. Clearly, nowhere near KG’s mobility, ability to guard all 5 positions. But would I rather have Deke defensively at his peak than KG? Probably… no, definitely. Why? Cause Deke’s ability to shut down the lane outshines KG’s ability to rotate on pick and rolls, or guard the perimeter… because for all of KG’s ability to do that better than most (all?) big men that have ever played, guards in the NBA will and still got to the rim against him, and still hit jumpers against him. It’s even more true for the era he played in. Will probably have to agree to disagree there. Again, I think an overstatement. Minny went to the WCF once. And that was after 7 straight years of first round exits. 7 years! I understand basketball is the ultimate team game… but fortunate trades are the only thing that distinguishes KG from T-Mac from a “winner” perspective. They finally went to the WCF the year Sam Cassel and Latrell Sprewell joined the squad. They had more talent… they went further… I get it. But still, even though the heat was building on KG, especially towards the end, he never seemed to have quite the same heat that T-Mac got for not being able to advance. I’ll readily admit T-Mac doesn’t seem to have the same desire to win as KG has.. but who knows. Look, the guy is obviously a first ballot HOF. He was a dominant PF for over 10+ year. He was a top 3 or 4 PF of his generation (maybe top 2.. but I don’t know). I just think he’s NOT the consummate team player, or the consummate “winner”, or any of that.
Exactly. When he was in Minnesota, he absolutely cared for his numbers. You could tell he wanted his 20-10-5, even if that meant to dominate the ball at times while having Chauncey Billups on the floor or snatching a few rebounds from teammates who would've gotten them anyway. In that regard, he wasn't much better than his ex-teammate Marbury, just an empty numbers guy to some degree. Then, mix in some teammate-sucker-punching and some fake tough guy behavior and you don't need to wonder anymore why he almost never got out of the first round. People always compare KG to Duncan and claim that KG's teammates were so bad. I claim KG was simply never on Duncan's level. His D is also vastly overrated. KG does put on a nice defensive show with screaming and stuff, but his Minnesota teams never were that good defensively. And Boston's D declined soon after Perkins left, so go figure. I claim, as far as D goes, Duncan is on a whole different planet than KG.
people forget how good garnett really was <iframe width="640" height="510" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/K1VtZht_8t4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> definition of putting the team on your back
Rep. KG is a great player, Sam Cassell seems to like him to. <iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-EQJjv108W8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6mO-MUT6nYQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
