“Tim Duncan was harder to guard than Kevin Garnett”: Kenyon Martin Sr. shares his experience guarding both these Hall of Famers, chooses the Spurs-legend as harder to guard

Timmy and KG were defensive juggernauts in their time in the NBA. What made them unicorns was that they were absolute monsters on the offensive end as well.

Tim Duncan’s most iconic offensive move was the bank shot. Most players learn the bank shot while starting to play basketball. It is only fitting Timmy’s iconic shot is something so basic, as he’s nicknamed – ‘The Big Fundamental’.

He averaged 20+ points for 8 consecutive seasons and has 17 seasons shooting over 49% from the field.

Timmy had a free-flowing passing offensive system. However, KG was much more responsible for setting the offensive tone of the team. While Timmy used basic techniques to dominate his opponents, KG had a much more diverse offensive repertoire. KG was a low-post master. In addition, he was effective in driving to the hoop and was automatic from the mid-range.

This combination of threats posed by KG made him quite difficult to guard. He averaged more than 20 points for 9 straight seasons and has 14 seasons shooting over 49% from the field.

Considering both these players played in statistically the toughest defensive era, these numbers are evidence that they’re the two of the best PFs to step on the court.

Also Read – “Only Father Time could guard Shaq”: Kenyon Martin shares his experience guarding greats, picks Shaquille O’Neal as the toughest player to guard

Kenyon Martin picks Tim Duncan as the tougher to guard when compared to Kevin Garnett.

Kenyon Martin was one of the toughest defenders of his era. Needless to say, he has spent a lot of nights guarding both Timmy and KG in their prime. In an episode of the ‘No Chill’ podcast, Kenyon Martin is posed with the question of KG vs Tim. The former All-Star did not hesitate in choosing Tim Duncan as harder to guard.

“Most guys I could speed up, make you play at my pace, I could frustrate you but with him (Tim) it didn’t matter. He was gonna play at his own pace, get to his spots. He was gonna shoot the shot he wanted to shoot. And I just had to make the shot as tough as possible.”

He further continues to express the difference between guarding these legends.

“With KG, I know what he’s gonna do. so I can make him do something different. Like he might make a tough shot, but I can manipulate the way he took shots. KG is a right-shoulder guy, I know this. You’re playing me, you can’t go right shoulder.”

While both these guys have similar stats for their careers, one can only imagine what it would be like to guard them.

Also Read – “Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo are out, why’d we even watch?”: NBA Twitter reacts to Christmas Day schedule being messed up as MVPs sit out