"The most complete basketball player we're ever going to see" - ESPN's Scoop Jackson on the career of Kevin Garnett
Kevin Garnett was an active comet in his 21 NBA seasons. He was the definition of emotion and got every bit out of his 6-foot-11, 240-pound frame. Garnett averaged 17.8 points and 10 rebounds in 1,482 games, and the Hall of Fame power forward is regarded as one of the best of all time at his position.
As Showtime releases, Kevin Garnett: Anything Is Possible, let's examine the remarkably star-studded career of the man they call "The Big Ticket" exclusive of the doc, yet with respect to the sports documentary.
👀 Kevin Garnett #AnythingIsPossible starts now on @Showtime: s.sho.com/kgdoc
@shobasketball @KevinGarnett5KG https://t.co/IjFRvAZy2U
Here are some excerpts.
Black Pharaoh
I call him Black Pharaoh. It's a resemblance to KG's likeness to the art on Egyptian walls. Black Pharaoh did it for the culture every night on the basketball court. He was a joy to cover; a leader of grown men and regal in how he flexed.
No matter what the jersey said on the front, the opposition was getting all of the name on the back. When covering Boston Celtics games, it was always interesting to hear him communicate pick and rolls on the interior, and as a result, I learned a lot about the game watching him direct the Boston Celtics defense.
The team Danny Ainge assembled in 2008 was an inevitable NBA champion. Everything clicked, and Kevin Garnett was the anchor. He was the check and balance.
Kevin Garnett had a passion and spiritual pull for the game of basketball, that was exclusive to the game, yet augmented his game. He reached for every inch; fought and scratched at every turn.
KG would pick up fouls on screens because he wanted to make it as difficult as possible -- mentally and physically -- for any opponent engaging him. He wanted the opposition to go to the end of the earth on a play to ensure he got every ounce of blood, sweat and tears from them all in the spirit of competition.
Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury
The mid- to late '90s saw an explosion of sports marketing ushered in by Chicago Bulls megastar Michael Jordan. His success in product endorsements gave fans something to clamor for, and every young charismatic star was the next nominee to follow suit.
Kevin Garnett and guard Stephon Marbury, acquired during a trade on draft day in 1996, seemed to be the next dynamically talented duo to help take the league into the internet era, and they pushed the Minnesota Timberwolves into the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
A first-round loss to Charles Barkley and the Houston Rockets appeared to be the motivation for Kevin Garnett and Marbury to take the Wolves to another level, yet that didn't happen. Kevin Garnett signed his big deal and Marbury wanted similar money, yet owner Glen Taylor and his small-market team were not willing to pay to keep Marbury.
Stephon wanted to be his own man for his own team, and after two-and-a-half seasons, Marbury was traded to the New Jersey Nets and the promising duo no longer existed.
Seven straight first-round exits
Kevin Garnett was always a professional to cheer for. As the first-round exits piled up, it took a special player to get back up and eventually overcome the emotional drain of playoff losses. Black Pharaoh was already versed in the difficulties of life growing up on his own in Chicago, so losing a game was just another obstacle to conquer as just another lesson of development for Kevin Garnett.
Getting that championship
Once the Boston Celtics won the NBA championship in 2008, Kevin Garnett's legacy was cemented. Combining Kevin Garnett with Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo, the Celtics under Doc Rivers revived a once-proud franchise. They formed an elite title contender from 2007 to 2012 and were as galvanized as any other team in sports.
The locker room was one of the most professional I've experienced, and Ray Allen was clearly the alpha. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were a combination of emotion and leadership that younger Celtics like Rajon Rondo and Glen Davis took very seriously.
For perspective, the only other NBA comparison at the time to the Celtics locker room was the veteran laden Detroit Pistons counterpart led by Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Ben Wallace. There was a hierarchy, and with both contenders, younger players understood their place, and followed the lead implicitly.
It's 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.
Garnett defied the odds and became the 5th pick in the 1995 NBA Draft 😤
#AnythingIsPossible https://t.co/LM9q6CSoqI
After claiming the title in Boston and eventually losing to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in a return trip to the Finals during an epic, seven-game showdown in 2010, the Big Three became the motivation for LeBron James to ascend to his eventual prominence.
Boston made it tough on James, and the Celtics were to LeBron James what the Detroit Pistons were to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in his development.
Kevin Garnett and the Celtics helped James see clearly what he had to do professionally to become one of the best players ever, and subsequently we saw it all play out. After dramatic playoff losses in Cleveland, James sought his own Big Three and later appeared in four NBA Finals with Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat.
This is what fans view as the origin of the 'super team'. Boston became a blueprint for future stars to follow. Despite the classic super teams of the 80's and 90's, the difference is now the players have more power over their free agent destinations instead of NBA front offices primarily controlling transactions of the past.
For Kevin Garnett, winning the title was a culmination of hard work, dedication, resilience and the great timing of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and him exacting their will and physical primes in the NBA at the same time.
Post retirement, there is a star still hovering over the well-respected Hall of Fame power forward. Kevin Garnett is a soul model for younger generations of hoopers who were old enough to witness Kevin Garnett demonstrating a personal responsibility and dedication to upholding the game's integrity.
I thought the NBA dropped the ball by not ensuring Kevin Garnett became next in line to own the Minnesota Timberwolves even with his beef with Taylor. Kevin Garnett is a great ambassador for the game, and would have been instrumental in furthering the game as an owner by just being who he is.
The NBA could have taken its fanbase into the future by aligning with the ambitious and extremely popular Kevin Garnett, yet blew it.
Scoop Jackson
ESPN's Scoop Jackson has been a writing mentor of sorts since his days at SLAM magazine. I had a few features in the mag, and it was an honor to be published alongside Scoop.
Jackson covered Kevin Garnett in Chicago during his high school years, so after I saw him in the Showtime documentary, I hit him up to get a sense of those early years, and what it meant for Jackson to cover not only Garnett's high school exploits but the culmination of hard work in winning an NBA title:
"When I looked around the room and saw that hardly anybody was there to see him in high school, when you get to the NBA Finals, it’s the cream of the crop. Everyone sends their best to cover. You know that. No one was even there to cover from Minnesota. It’s just all the top dudes. No one there had been on the ride with him at all. I don’t normally ask questions in press scrums, but in this particular instance, I didn’t want Kevin to think he’s alone. He’s going through this, and finally where he has always wanted to get to, and none of these expletives know him. He might have seen them during the year, because it was his first year in Boston, but they were new to him because he’d never been to the Finals before."
"I wanted to let him know that I was there so he didn’t feel alone in thinking that noone in the room got what this moment meant to him."
Yes, documenting the moment with the knowledge and experience of covering a player in his high school years -- by winning the title as a pro -- is important for history and legacy. Answers given in a championship moment to journalists knowing the full story will only make history sane.
Kevin Garnett is such a lightning rod for time, and reporters who were present as the team's success was attained saw the full depth of his emotions. That emotion is what should be passed along to sports fans, desiring to discern what type of player and individual Keven Garnett was to the NBA.
So Scoop, where would you pick KG all-time?
In the accompanying interview that will post his full answer to this question and also a reality of legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson, Scoop and I had a conversation about where he would pick Kevin Garnett if every all-time great was available to select in a pick-up game for the ages:
"Scoop, KG is one of those players where you don’t have to rank him. He has his own spot in time, right? Dirk Nowitzki took the stretch five into another dimension, yet it was transformed originally in this era by Kevin Garnett. He could do it smoothly like Derrick Coleman and other cats like Spencer Haywood, Bob McAdoo and Chris Webber. Kevin Garnett seemed to be on another level because he had a defensive prowess. His defensive presence is what you feel first about him. Where do you see Kevin Garnett all-time? If we were on the asphalt playing pick up, and all the legends of the game were lined on the fence, where would you pick KG?"
"For me personally, I’ll say this. This is the best way I can answer this question. I will argue with anybody about this. I don’t think there has ever been a more complete, fundamentally sound basketball player that’s ever lived."
"I want you to think about that MT. With his height, with his lift, with his intensity, name me anybody that has the physical gifts that he has to play every facet of the game of basketball at that high level. You can’t find it. He has a pure jump shot. He has range. He has fluidity. He has movement. He has instincts. He has handles. He can defend the rim. He can guard you outside of the post. His footwork …"
"Name me one player that has all that. Find me one part of the game that this cat could not do. Just one. Left hand, right hand. He is literally, in my mind, the most complete basketball player we’re ever going to see. Now, you’ve seen other cats be able to do this but not at that height. That’s what changes it because basketball still is a game that leans towards height giving you an advantage. Nobody that size was able to do what he was able to do as far as his skills are concerned outside of the post. Nobody can run the floor like that. There is nothing in his game that he cannot do and he doesn’t half ass do it. He does it and gives it everything."
This is a very intriguing answer. And does it make sense when assessing the skills of every big man in their totality? Think about the greatest big men who have ever played the game. Were they all missing something Garnett had in his tool belt?
Could they do it emphatically on both ends regarding rebounding, defending the entire floor and getting after shots attempted like Kevin Garnett? Could they go coast to coast and dunk on whoever is defending the basket after powering high for a rebound like Garnett?
Could any legendary big man that comes to mind stretch it out to the 3-point line offensively and totally baffle defenses, yet also defend the post like Kevin Garnett? Before judging Scoop's answer as sheer insanity, put on your thinking cap, research a few legends and continue the conversation.
Kevin Garnett is almost mythical. He was special for his time, and the NBA world should thank its lucky stars that the comet I spoke of early came around as NBA eyes were privy to his glorious basketball climb.