Throughout his career, Kevin Garnett built a reputation with his otherworldly intensity. His persona struck fear in the hearts of his opponents and on one occasion, even left his teammates dripping with water on the bench.
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Rajon Rondo, who was a sophomore when KG joined the Boston Celtics in 2008, shared the hilarious story on Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles’ podcast. “We in the huddle, he drinks some water and he spits up. That was the wildest s**t I’ve ever seen in my life,” Rondo said on the ‘Knuckleheads Podcast’.
“We in the huddle. Doc [Rivers] about to draw up a play… You see a couple guys behind the bench look at him but ain’t nobody gonna say nothing to him. He’s in his mode… I’m the furthest from the bench from him so I’m like ‘Phew’. Like, I felt it but I’m like damn this n***a wild. Like, what’s wrong big fella? What’s going on? Why are you spitting water on your teammates right now?” the two-time NBA champion added.
Garnett was known for getting himself riled up in unique and outlandish ways. Usually, out-of-pocket trash-talking with his opponents or loud bellows after a dunk or a block got the job done for him. But in this case, the Big Ticket needed to channel WWE legend Triple H to get himself in the zone.
The wrestler would fill his mouth with water as he entered the ring before spitting it out in a grand fashion. It certainly worked for Triple H, and maybe it worked for Garnett too, as he and Rondo would lift the Larry O’Brien during their very first season together.
That’s probably why none of KG’s teammates questioned his antics. Whatever he did to get himself going worked for the benefit of the team.
Kevin Garnett might be the most intense player in NBA history
Of course, there are the likes of Russell Westbrook, Rasheed Wallace, and Bill Laimbeer who have all held the throne at different points, but when you delve into the library of Garnett’s stories, it’s hard to argue that he wasn’t in an entirely different echelon.
In 2007, during the Big Ticket’s final summer in Minnesota, the Wolves landed the 7th pick in the NBA Draft. Among the prospects that worked out for them was Georgia Tech freshman Thaddeus Young. During an appearance on Theo Pinson’s podcast, Young recalled his first time seeing Garnett in the Timberwolves training facility.
“I had just watched KG, drenched in sweat, workout before we worked out for the pre-draft. Talking crazy, dunking on the ball boys and the training staff. Talking crazy to Kevin McHale, ‘[This is] how you gotta f**king dunk em in the basket, g!’ Like, he talking crazy, like hitting his head on the stanchion and all that. And I’m like, ‘This is what the league about?’” the former Sixer revealed.
As a fellow power forward, it must have certainly been a scary welcome to the league moment for Young. But to be fair to Kevin Garnett, McHale and the Wolves had attempted to trade their franchise superstar in the build-up to the 2007 draft. Perhaps he caught wind of the rumors and set out on a mission to prove the front office wrong.
Regardless, a few months later, the Boston Celtics would trade for the Big Ticket, where he would drench Rondo and his teammates on the bench, adding just another page to the ridiculous story of an incredible career.
