Distinguishing Himself For ‘Standard’ $200 Million Earning NBA Vets, Kevin Garnett Establishes Himself As A ‘Psycho-Competitor’ Like Kobe Bryant And Michael Jordan

A clip of Patrick Bet-David differentiating between the NBA players based on their level of determination recently surfaced on Instagram. The entrepreneur went into quite a bit of detail while talking about the distinction between standard $200 million-earning veterans and psycho competitors such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. The words resonated deeply with Kevin Garnett as he promoted that clip to endorse his competitive spirit akin to the former shooting guards.

At first, Bet-David shed light on how several “super competitive” high school players fail to make a name for themselves in the league. Amongst the ones who do, according to him, share a nearly similar mindset and approach.

“There’s a guy that comes to the NBA. He competes. He is talented. He shows into work. He plays for 15 years, makes 200 million dollars. Good for him,” he revealed.

Following this, the 45-year-old highlighted the difference between them and the likes of Kobe. “Then you have the psycho competition who counts the 55 kids ahead of them that were chosen as the best high school basketball player and he is ranked number 56 and one by one by one, he targets every one of them until he takes them out. His name is Kobe Bryant,” he mentioned.

He then used Jordan’s career as a reference to further establish his viewpoint, mentioning, “Then we have Michael Jordan 1984 where the number one draft pick is Hakeem Olajuwon. Number two is Sam Bowie. Number three is Michael Jordan. You pick me number three. What happens to Michael? See, it’s a very different mindset”.

These remarks caught the attention of Garnett, who shared the clip from his Instagram story before sharing his thoughts. “Can’t front,” he wrote before declaring, “Me too tho,” expressing his acceptance of the analogy. The former power forward bragged a bit to remind fans of his status as a fierce competitor, as he drew parallels with MJ and Black Mamba through Bet-David’s words.

Despite the seemingly straightforward approach from KG, his words carry a certain volume. The 47-year-old’s bravery to skip college to directly enter the NBA from high school created a ripple effect back in 1995. It even influenced the decision-making of Kobe a year later as Garnett rose the ranks rapidly. Further, when it came to doing whatever it took to win, there weren’t many willing to get dirtier than the Celtics legend during any given game. So, while Garnett’s words may seem like a stretch at first, his actions throughout his career have more than justified his statement.

The psycho-competitive mentality of Kevin Garnett

Garnett’s NBA career remains filled with instances where he often took things too far on an NBA court. One such incident happened in 2010 when the former Boston Celtics star trash-talked Andray Blatche into tears. “Blatche was noticeably upset and appeared to hold back tears as he explained his encounter with Garnett,” the Washington Post game recap noted, as the former Wizards player talked about Garnett disrespecting him as a man.

It’s not just Garnett’s opponents that felt his wrath either, as even his teammates were lambasted if their performances failed to reach the expectations. Glen Davis witnessed it firsthand in 2008 when Garnett got right in his face as he demanded more effort from the newcomer before the player broke down into tears, slamming his towel on the floor.

Through these moments, the South Carolina-born had cemented his place as somewhat of a lunatic figure on the court. However taking a look back, these instances only exemplified his almost manic love for the game and his drive to win. Interestingly, Jordan and Kobe’s stories are barely any different when compared to Garnett’s tales of tormenting. So, again, KG’s statement about having the same mentality as MJ and Kobe was far from a stretch.