Kevin Garnett’s competitive zeal extended beyond the NBA hardwood. The Big Ticket had a similar competitive nature to that of Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.
Garnett was the first player to be drafted out of high school since 1975. KG had a rather slow start in his rookie season coming off the bench. However, the Timberwolves forward would soon become one of the top big men in the league.
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As per his teammates and opponents, Garnett became a very fierce competitor as years went by. The 15x All-Star had one of the most unreal pre-game routines that had him banging his head against the padded stanchion supporting the basket while talking to himself.
I can put Kevin Garnett at the same level as Michael Jordan as far as competitiveness and fire.
-Paul Pierce former Celtics teammate.
The Big Ticket had great success playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves during his initial years. Despite his several individual accolades, KG failed to get his team past the conference finals.
As years passed, Garnett’s frustration with the Timbervolwes franchise grew leaps and bounds. Thus after playing 12 seasons with the franchise, he was traded to the Boston Celtics.
With Paul Pierce and Ray Allen by his side, the media named them the Big 3. In his first year with the Celtics, Garnett the DPOY accolade and got the city of Boston their 17th NBA championship.
Kevin Garnett headbutted the wall in his house while watching a reality tv show
Tyronn Lue, who spent his early coaching years in Boston, narrated an incident that involved KG headbutting his head into the wall.
Some of the Celtics players had gathered at Garnett’s house and decided to watch the reality competition show Making the Band. It was certain that KG wasn’t going to sit quietly on the couch.
So one day we were at his house, and we were watching Puff Daddy’s show Making the Band, and in one of the scenes, some new guys came in and were trying to sing and were trying to compete against the guys who had been there. And KG just got so hyped, ‘Motherf—–, you’ve got to stand up for yours! You’ve got to fight! Motherf—–, you’ve got to come together!’ He’s going crazy, he’s sweaty. And he just head butts the wall and put a hole in the wall of his house.
– Former Celtics assitant coach Tyronn Lue, via: Bleacher report.
Some would view Garnett’s behavior as an exaggeration and a stunt for the cameras. However, according to Ty Lue,
A lot of people do all their howling on the court, and they’re faking just for attention, but what he does is genuine.
Garnett’s passion for the game is reflected in his game as well. KG remains the all-time scoring leader in the Timberwolves franchise history. Clearly, KG’s competitive nature and his killer instinct made him one of the best power forwards of all time.
