Written by Adam Trott and edited by Yiannis Bouranis
KG A to Z: By Kevin Garnett with David Ritz, published by Simon & Schuster, reflects on the life and legendary career of the NBA Hall of Famer.
The first time I saw Kevin Garnett’s soul was watching a short hype montage before a regular season home game in 2008. The four-second clip shows him in the locker room staring at the back of his Celtics jersey held gently upon his upward facing palms, like an earnest offering to deities. He had already been MVP, DPOY, gotten the NBA’s citizenship award, played in double-digit All-Star games and become an NBA champion.
It is a privilege to do what I do, and that it is something I love. But, when was the last time I stared at a organization that employed me, penitent and spiritually weaving myself into its fabric, selfless and vulnerable while others gawked and recorded? When have I stood and truly thought of the power of overcoming challenges, the years of pain and defeat it takes to succeed at practically anything? When was the last time you did?
Garnett just finished being nominated to the NBA 75. He’s not just some basketball warrior, despite his ability to fulfill that role like few others. Did you know KG’s favorite movie is Serendipity (yes, the romantic comedy with John Cusack)? That he looked up to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (formerly Chris Jackson of LSU and the Denver Nuggets) for not standing up during the national anthem in 1995? That the soprano sax of Kenny G gets Garnett to a “new realm of relaxation”?
Back to the jersey. Here he is, fifteen years into his NBA career and just after being a key piece of a championship, revering the beautiful game and his team. Speaking of souls, Garnett’s passion impacted mine that day and he will yours, too, as he fascinates in this candid, heartfelt, funny autobiography. Did you know that his all-time favorite player was Arvydas Sabonis? Did you know at the age of 17 he was left with his little sister in a Chicago airport with no money, no advice, and no direction? That the only person he was ever afraid of was his mother?
A fount of gems lay before us in “A to Z”. It will make you laugh, shake your head in wonder and sharpen your mind. It is insightful. It adds meaning to his contribution to the game he played. It is also meditation on the ongoing shifts of loyalty and professional basketball.
It is also written by a competitor who played against, and sometimes won, against some of the very best the game has seen. It is also personal and compelling in its candid revelations.
Growing up, it was difficult to find love. Maybe that difficulty is part of the reason why a beast emerged. That beast got all over me. Sometimes it looks like the beast would self-destruct, but had an early age I saw that intensity could be put to purpose.
Let’s start with the Question Everyone Asks: Why would a hyper-competitive guy, who set salary records, starting with the six year/$126 million extension at 21 years old, stay in frigid Minnesota? He could do whatever he wanted, got attention from nearly every team, and stayed. In Minnesota. For twelve years (check out this Secret Base piece about it).
Simple question, complicated answer. I’m going to answer it partially with the game you should watch. This is because one reflection of the prism of this answer is him knowing how he was loved in the Twin Cities. On Garnett’s birthday, May 19, 2004, the Timberwolves played Game 7 of a Western Conference Semi-finals against the Sacramento Kings. Kevin Garnett is joined by LaTrell Spreewell, Sam Cassell and role players, like Wally Szcerbiak, Fred Hoiberg and only slightly thinner than a bus Gary Trent (yes, the Sr. to be).
Wiley Vlade Divac is joined by all-around wonder Peja Stojaković, prime Mike Bibby, Doug Christie and (rugged but past-his-prime) Chris Webber, a recent update of the team that took the mid-dominant Lakers to within one possession of going to the Finals in 2002.
We’ll get to the game in a moment.
Basketball is full of terms that describe the human condition: rebound, assist, guard, possession, transition, trap. In basketball terms, isolation is when you’ve got the ball and the rest of your team gets out-of-the-way….It’s seen in her wrote terms. American cowboy mythology. But, I didn’t go for that myth.
We all talk about sacrifice and team play like we’ve swallowed our entire ego before millions of people and our friends to defer to someone else to maybe win something that is important to us. And, hey, maybe you’re one of the few who have. What I can say here is that Kevin Garnett sets the battering ram of ideology on two things: First, jocks are dumb. Second, KG was just some crazed lunatic with “athletic gifts” who didn’t think about the game.
Throughout the book, Kevin Garnett will give you his inspirations and his ethos around basketball. Bill Russell, eleven time champion, said sports have to be a combination of art and war, or else they wouldn’t be watchable by all those who watch. Interestingly, KG played for the same franchise all those years after they were the first to have an all-Black starting five or a Black coach. If Russell could have designed an artist warrior, I wonder how far from KG he would have to go.
Well, can a beast incorporate tenderness into his life? If he can he’ll expand his greatness. If he can’t he’ll go nuts.
Understanding Kevin Garnett is to understand the dualities he embraces. Even MGM is capitalizing on his ability to enjoy one moment peacefully and completely dominate another.
Garnett’s yin and yang knows many forms: His balance of beasts and love, of offense and defense, of honest feedback and respectful privacy (note that there was nearly zero drama between him and a teammate of his anywhere in the news), of a remarkable individuality that excelled in a team atmosphere, of professional grace with a voracious hunger for winning (remember when he called the ’08 Celtics Paul Pierce’s team even while he was on it). Ok, let’s get to his game.
Photo by Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images
2004 Western Conference Semi-Finals Game 7
Watch this game. Garnett playing against one of his idols (the first thing he does after the game is go hug Webber). Cassell at his Big Game height. Doug Christie showing every defensive move you can have. Divac, Peja and Bibby flinging the ball around. Kevin Harlan (who was somehow the home announcer for both teams at different times), Doug Collins and Cheryl Miller on the call.
When you watch (its quick, no commercials in that link), remember that Garnett knows that if he doesn’t lead the team to a title or deep run, that major changes are in the works. Kevin McHale, “the Yoda to my young Skywalker”, said Kevin Garnett and Flip Saunders would be preparing their resumes if they lose; the Wolves, having already tried Starbury, all star Terrell Brandon and other combinations to support KG and championship contention.
Just the first quarter, people, shows why Garnett loved it there. Every basket the Wolves got, the crowd erupted in the type of yelling pandemonium movies try to emulate. Every basket for the entire quarter has the arena-shaking “Yaaaahhhhh” soundtrack of underdogs smoting their bigger and storied foe, and this was before arenas were pumping in sound to augment quieter crowds. Minnesota basketball fans lost their team to Los Angeles in 1960 after five championships, won back a franchise in 1989 and wanted payment in flesh. Garnett’s play gave them their first taste of blood as he becomes their preeminent warrior before our eyes.
Kevin Garnett in the first: 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 0 turnovers.
It’s easy to forget how good this Sacramento team was. Bibby hitting clutch 3s, passing big men all over the place, all five players could score. In the fourth quarter, the Wolves have to sit Cassell because he’s off. We see Kevin Garnett play point and I don’t mean sort of point. This is full-on running the offense while also anchoring the defense with elite rim protection. Like, get the defensive rebound, bring the ball up, pass off to a shooting guard, set a pin-down screen, get the ball and score while encountering three defenders. All just on one possession. During the third, the Kings mount a comeback from 10 down to tie it and many Wolves miss shots or commit turnovers.
The fourth quarter, the harbinger of defensive truths, sees Kevin Garnett score 13 straight points for the Wolves as few others can score with the Kings D. This game is KG in his silent killer mode. You can barely find a fist pump throughout the 45 minutes he played. Readers, he is everywhere. Kevin Garnett scored 14 of the quarter’s 21, and was essentially the sole scorer until late-game intentional fouls started.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – NOVEMBER 2: Kevin Garnett #21 of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on November 2, 2015 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images)
Oh and defense? Watching Garnett’s help D is a clinic in one of the rules of winning anything: understanding personnel. Where will Webber shoot from? When will Divac grab the board versus tipping it out of the paint? Will Bibby drive and kick or lay it up? He’s protecting the rim as well as anyone in the day, helping onto penetrators while being able to recover to his man. His pick and roll defense is all world level here with his ability to read actions, switch onto the smaller Bibby and interrupt passing lanes. Watch Kevin Garnett and see one who knows.
Just enjoy this world where you have a player who can completely dominate on both ends and still distribute the ball. He plays any position and guards any position. He can score every important basket and doesn’t clap for the ball all night. He’s dunking, passing, posting up (always remember the McHale connection, who is shown putting his head in his hands he’s so nervous), driving, doing anything to keep the momentum.
He hits a turnaround 3 at the end of the clock with 3 minutes to go that could define dagger. He’s giving you opportunities to shoot while knowing when to take over. He’s claiming the paint as his own and Garnett had both a block and a steal in the final 33 seconds when the lead was down to as little as one point. With a three-point lead and three seconds to go, KG blocks a Miller put back and has all the celebration of someone making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Wolves win, 83-80. Kevin Garnett finishes with 32 points, 21 rebounds, two assists, five blocks, four steals, one foul, and two turnovers.
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Garnett’s Timberwolves went on to face the Bryant/O’Neal/Malone/Fisher/Payton Lakers and lost in six. You know the rest and he continued on to play another three years, went to the Celtics for five seasons, etc, etc.
Any rating of this book for any fan of KG, the Wolves or big man basketball would be 5 out of 5 Head Bangs Against the Stanchions. One of the rationales the Brooklyn Nets gave for emptying the assets to get him and Paul Pierce was that at least they would no longer have an opponent shouting the offensive plays as the point guard was bringing the ball up. After Area 21, KG has the foot in the door to be in the media and perhaps we’re lucky enough to have KG’s intensity and, shall we say, creative metaphors of clown face painting and Cheerios in the broadcast booth.
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