Several players have claimed that Kevin Garnett was one of the toughest players to go up against. Stromile Swift is one of them. Swift explained how the Big Ticket was the first player to “bust his a**” in the league. In fact, their first matchup against each other was so brutal that Swift stopped admiring Garnett because of it.
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A majority of up-and-coming forwards in the late 1990s were inspired by Garnett. Swift was no exception. He wanted to model his game around the then-Minnesota Timberwolves big. The youngster was starstruck meeting his idol for the first time. But, getting “killed” by KG led to a change in Swift’s preferences.
“I was looking forward to playing against him… He came out there and killed me. He was talking noise and I am looking like ‘hey, I don’t like this’. KG was the first one to give me the business… Man, I don’t like KG no more,” Swift said on the Knuckleheads Podcast.
Swift isn’t the only player to face the wrath of an in-form Kevin Garnett. Multiple players have disclosed having a “Welcome to the NBA moment” handed to them by the Big Ticket.
Garnett not only destroyed his opponent’s spirits with his words but also with his play. One time after his retirement, he delved into why he did so.
Garnett explained why he would play with such high intensity
Kevin Garnett played in an era that was dominated by big men. Despite playing at the same time as Shaquille O’Neal, Dirk Nowitzki, and Tim Duncan, Garnett was able to stand out.
His competitiveness and intensity allowed him to be unique. Such intangibles were also a huge reason behind an overly stacked resume – 15 All-Star appearances, nine All-NBA selections, 12 All-Defensive selections, 2004 MVP, 2008 DPOY, and 2008 championship.
Years after retiring, Garnett revealed the motivation behind approaching the game with the highest intensity. He took inspiration from the likes of Bones Jones and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“You ever see ‘Bones’ Jones fight? Before Jones fights, he does this weird thing where he goes… (slaps his chest several times) That’s muscle activation.
I would hear Arnold Schwarzenegger sometimes talk about having orgasms when he would lift… And I went, ‘F**k, what? F**k outta here.’ But then when I would run and I would work on these moves and I would actually see my sh*t working,” Garnett said.
These examples might seem weird to a layman. However, such eccentricities enabled the Hall of Famer to have a successful career.
