Here on Brooklyn Balling, I’ll try to recap the chaos that was the 2013-14 Nets season with a series of “Season Review” posts on the players, trades, and even coach that shaped how this year turned out. Deron Williams was last, and Kevin Garnett is up next.
Kevin Garnett’s Brooklyn Nets tenure quite possibly could be over just one year after it began, but for that one season he was in Brooklyn as a friend not a foe, it was certainly interesting and not too far from being wildly successful.
At the ripe-old age of 38, KG is not even close to the player he used to be, but definitely showed flashes of his former self during the 2013-14 campaign, in which he averaged below 10 points per game (6.5 actually) for the first time in his entire career.With plenty of rest days and a prolonged back spasms problem, Garnett played just 54 games this season (20.5 minutes per).
The last time he played 54 games or less in a season? When he appeared in just 47 for the Timberwolves in the 1998-99 campaign.
Obviously, when he was traded to the Nets from the Celtics on last June’s draft day, they weren’t expecting to get the All-Star version of Garnett, who dominated the interior with Minnesota and Boston. Brooklyn and Billy King knew that the Garnett they were getting was in the last throes of a long and storied Hall-of-Fame career who just wanted another shot at getting a ring.
He may not even be back in Brooklyn next season, and what he does probably depends a lot on what Paul Pierce decides to do.
This means that even with all of his enthusiasm–note his jersey pop in Game 3 against the Raptors–there’s a good chance he’s not a Net past this offseason. He is under contract for exactly $12 million for the 2014-15 season but with all of his career earnings and memorable 2008 championship, he could walk away and retire without being worse for the wear. Crazier things have happened.
Regardless of what happens in the future, even with all the ups-and-downs from his first year with the Nets, KG’s Brooklyn tenure–be it only one season possibly–was certainly an exciting one, as it saw the Nets win their first playoff series since the team moved out of New Jersey to the Better Borough. The second round loss to the Heat was devastating, but in it, the Nets showed they could compete with the NBA’s elite, meaning the future can still be bright.
I know for sure that I’m going to miss Garnett, should be not return to the squad, and all of the fire, passion, and intensity that he brings to the floor on a nightly basis. He wasn’t always effective, until he found his jump shot late in the season and the postseason, but always brought the energy. You don’t see that very much nowadays and it’s a part of the reason he was so successful for so long in this league.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
