Former teammate Chauncey Billups maintains that Garnett is the most unselfish superstar of his era and the most dynamic leader he has seen. Then again, if Towns is devoured by KG’s fire, he wouldn’t be the first. A partial list of ex-teammates who have endured the wrath of the Big Ticket includes Glen “Big Baby” Davis, Mason Plumlee, Ray Allen, Wally Szczerbiak, Rajon Rondo, Rasho Nesterovic, Patrick O’Bryant and Deron Williams. Some have survived to be welcomed into Garnett’s inner circle; others are forever dead to him. “If you don’t meet his expectations,” says Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, “he has no use for you.”
Rivers, whose eyes still water when he attempts to articulate what Garnett has meant to him, says that before he coached him, he considered Garnett’s ferocity to be contrived. Then he watched Big Baby Davis and the Celtics’ subs nearly blow a 25-point lead against the Trail Blazers on Dec. 5, 2008, their third game in five nights. During a timeout with 6:04 remaining, with Boston’s lead whittled to 13, Rivers watched Garnett, mid-diatribe, grab Davis, who was standing with hands on his hips, head down, several feet from the huddle. He listened as Garnett undressed Davis and the reserves for blowing what should have been an insurmountable advantage, forcing the starters to return to the game. Afterward, Davis, then in his second year, retreated to the end of the bench, snapped his towel onto the floor and wept.
ESPN – Rookie Watch: The Cruel Tutelage of the Wolves’ Kevin Garnett
Kevin Garnett has always been that player the fans either love or hate.
You hated KG if he didn’t play for your team, because he was in your face and disrupting your offense and making it clear he was going to crush your spirit. You also hated him because you never actually understood how amazing it would be to have him on your side.
If KG did play for your team, you loved him then, and will still love him – perhaps even more – after he moves on, because you then miss everything about him so much. That’s how Celtics fans see him now. We embrace what he brought to Boston – not just a championship banner, but the rejuvenation of the franchise.
Other players are well aware that, even if he is their teammate – especially if he’s their teammate – they will not be spared from his unrelenting intensity. That includes Karl-Anthony Towns, the No. 1 draft pick who’s now being tutored by KG in Minnesota.
This piece by Jackie MacMullan spells that out unmistakably through the recollections of those coaches and teammates who’ve lived with KG’s personality. Take a few minutes to enjoy it, and remember the great feeling you had every time Kevin banged his head on the basket stanchion at the Garden.
Note on the great Jackie MacMullan article on KG. Have worked with over 400 NBA players. Only player I was ever intimidated by.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) November 25, 2015
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