Editor’s Note: As part of a new series for his podcast, “What’s up with Nick Wright,” FOX Sports commentator Nick Wright ranks 50 best NBA players in the past 50 years. The countdown continues today with player number 22, Kevin Garnett.
Highlights of Kevin Garnett’s career:
- 2004 MVP
- 15 times All-Star
- First and second team in all NBA four times, second team three times, third team twice
- Defensive Player of the Year 2008
- The first team defended all nine times, the second team three times
- Four-time recovery champion
- 1996 All-Rookie Team
There’s a world where Kevin Garnett’s crest fits more closely into a title contender club. Historically, it may have put him on a par with some of his more senior colleagues. He certainly has as much talent as anyone in the last 25 years.
Certain parts of his résumé, especially some from the knockout stages, might suggest otherwise.
If it’s not clear, Garnett is on the Mount Rushmore of basketball players who turned pro right out of high school.
“No return bar LeBron [James]Kobe [Bryant]Moses [Malone]“KG,” said Wright.
Kevin Garnett is 22nd on Nick Wright’s Top 50 NBA Players of the Last 50 Years
Garnett is the ideal defender for the modern NBA, a big man who can defend the belt, but also switch to guard and stay with them in the outer ring.
Garnett’s journey to success presented only a few extra hurdles at the outset. The sinewy 6-foot-11 prospect was a landmark pick at 5th overall by Timberwolves in the 1995 NBA Draft, becoming the first high school player to be made in 20 years. After a poor first half with its five rookies, KG has averaged about 15 points and nine rebounds over 54% since coming off the field after the All-Star break.
Minnesota, which has yet to hit the post-season since joining the league seven years ago, has made a fateful pair of picks in the loaded ’96 class that will inform its next decade – and that of Garnett.
The Wolves initially took Ray Allen in 5th but swapped him in draft night for Stephon Marbury. The latter was an electric point guard who would make two All-Star teams, but only after being forced to leave Minnesota midway through his third season. The former developed into one of the greatest marksmen of all time and ended up competing for multiple championships alongside KG in Boston. Garnett was in his late thirties at the time. First, he had to go through years of play-off defeats with his original franchise.
“The post-season stuff with KG was tough,” said Wright.
Garnett was Wolves’ Player of the Season in his second season, selected by the NBA as a whole by him fourth and MVP runner-up in season five. “The Kid” is now “The Big Ticket,” and his two-way brilliance has helped Minnesota make it to the knockouts every year — with seven consecutive first-round appearances to show for it. there. Never mind that KG’s post-season averages from this time period (May 21-13) are mostly the same as his regular-season output.
The 2003 addition of historic veterans like Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell gave Garnett more help than he ever knew. He responded with the best season of his career, and undeniably the best season in the league that year.
MVP almost unanimously put the score 24-14-5 with nearly 4 blocks plus steals and was the runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year. Furthermore, the Wolves won the 1st seed and made it to the grand finals where they narrowly lost to the Hall of Fame. Lakers. Garnett’s first deep playoff had 30 and 20 in the opening game against miner30 and 20 in game 7 of the conference semi-final against Kings, and 30 and 19 to prevent removal from Los Angeles. Average KG is 24-15-5 for the post-season period.
Minnesota oddly missed the playoffs for the next three seasons, even though Garnett was at the top of his game, before honoring the icon’s desire to go through. KG also has a big impact when it comes to Boston, even if the numbers don’t speak for itself. In 2008, he won the elusive Defensive Player of the Year award and acted as a mainstay for the 66-match Celtics. They needed at least six games to get through the next four innings, and KG shined in each round.
He put up 20 and 11 in a seven-game duel with Cavaliersincluding 26 and 16 to go 3-2 in Game 5. Garnett posted 33 and 7 against Piston in game 5 of the conference finals, which also ended 2-2. He had 26 and 14 against the Lakers in the nailing game of the Finals.
“I consider him the best Celtics player of ’08,” said Wright. “There’s no denying that he was the best player of that season. Paul Pierce won the MVP of the Finals. I think it should have gone to KG.”
Garnett was still in his prime but suffered a knee injury during the 2009 All-Star break, eventually causing Boston to derail.
Over the next five years, the power of aging emerged in a number of classical performances amid mostly modest performances while remaining a frenzied opponent well into his late thirties. That includes playing a key, albeit supportive, role for the Celtics in additional trips to the Finals and conference finals. But his protracted twilight period, which ended with a reunion with the Timberwolves, probably led him to a 22-12-5 result with three blocks plus steals in his 11 best campaigns. .
“His career [averages] Wright said.
However, Garnett’s 21 seasons made for spectacular numbers. He went on to start three months of his rookie year and never came off the bench again, making the third most appearances in league history (1,425). The big do-it-all tops the top 20 for goalscoring, steals and saves, the top 10 for rebounds and just outside the top 50 for assists. KG and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the only two over 6-foot-10 players to have recorded 5,000 assists.
That’s not at all what Garnett shares with such NBA royalties.
“[He’s] one of the greatest defensive players of his time,” said Wright.[Among] people who can be 30 less than you and are great defenders, one who will argue about the last 30 years, it is Hakeem [Olajuwon], [Tim] Duncan and later Kevin Garnett. “
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