“Talked to Isiah Thomas for 4 hours after having a pushing match with Scottie Pippen”: Kevin Garnett recounts the events leading up to his monumental decision to go to the NBA straight from high school

Kevin Garnett tells ‘SLAM!’ about what led up to the point where he decided he wanted to forgo college and go straight to the NBA. 

Kevin Garnett didn’t originally go to high school in West Chicago. He was born and raised in South Carolina and spent three years of high school at Mauldin High School. He would however, get into a racially charged incident during the summer between his junior and senior year, leading to him transferring to Farragut Career Academy in Chicago. 

His senior of HS saw him dominate at his level, racking up several awards at various tournaments and would be named National High School Player of the Year by ‘USA Today’. His averages were otherworldly in his senior year as he put up 25.2 points, grabbed 17.9 rebounds, and swatted away 6.5 shots a game.

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It was clear that Kevin Garnett was a man among boys and needed to be exposed to higher levels of competitions. KG realized this too and would go on to make a monumental decision. 

Kevin Garnett recalls the moments that led to his decision to skip college. 

In his interview with ‘SLAM!’, Kevin Garnett talks about various aspects of his early life, professional career, and everything in between. One of the questions he was asked was, “Was there an exact moment when you’re like, ‘OK NBA, we’re doing this,’?” 

To this, the eventual 2004 MVP replied by saying he played Scottie Pippen in the summer one time. During the bout, he got into a slight pushing contest with the Chicago Bulls legend. This encounter however, led to him having confidence instilled within him as he was able to hold his own against perhaps the greatest wing defender in NBA history. 

He would go on to talk about how a 3-4 hour conversation with Isiah Thomas where they chopped it up over growing up in Chicago and basketball in general, led to him making the decision to skip college. He would sit down with his high school head coach at the time and let him know that he wants to go straight to the NBA and so calling up agents was the first thing they needed to do.

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Eric Fleisher was recommended to Kevin Garnett from a Chi-Town coach and Fleisher would go on to host workout with older, more experienced players who KG would hold his own against. This led to NBA teams reaching out to catch a glimpse of the lanky, defensive savant and the rest is history for the former 5th overall pick.