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“You look at what Tim Duncan did. I’m not comparing Cameron to Tim Duncan, but he was another guy that wasn’t [athletically] a Kevin Garnett or a Tracy McGrady or a Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O’Neal. But you know what he did? He won five championships in that era [against] those players — the Kobes and the Shaqs, because of his IQ, because of his skill set, and because his team would follow him. “That is who Cameron is. He’s a modern-day version of that. People are going to follow him because of what he gives to the team and what he gives to the game. That translates into winning. So. if you want to win, you pick Cameron. And I’m going to tell you this: The GMs that don’t pick Cam, they’re going to regret that 15 years from now.”
“There are not that many guys that can be an 18-year-old on the biggest stage in college basketball like Duke basketball — [and] with what comes with that — and the entire team will follow him,” Carlos Boozer said. “You know why they do that with Cameron? Because he gives so much to the game. He gives so much to his team. Whatever it takes, he’s an unselfish superstar, and that translates to the NBA. “You look at what Tim Duncan did. I’m not comparing Cameron to Tim Duncan, but he was another guy that wasn’t [athletically] a Kevin Garnett or a Tracy McGrady or a Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O’Neal. But you know what he did? He won five championships in that era [against] those players — the Kobes and the Shaqs, because of his IQ, because of his skill set, and because his team would follow him. “That is who Cameron is. He’s a modern-day version of that. People are going to follow him because of what he gives to the team and what he gives to the game. That translates into winning. So. if you want to win, you pick Cameron. And I’m going to tell you this: The GMs that don’t pick Cam, they’re going to regret that 15 years from now.”
Paul Pierce tells a story about Jared Jeffries asking Kevin Garnett during the game inviting him to his wedding: “I remember Jared Jeffries asked him to come to his wedding during the game. He was like, hey KG I want to invite you to my wedding this summer. KG was like SHUT THE FUCK UP. I START CRYING DOG.”
How much longer do you want to play? Brook Lopez: I always had a number of 20 years. A lot of great players played 20 years [whom] I looked up to. Timmy [Duncan], Kobe [Bryant]. I think Ticket [Kevin Garnett] got there. That’s always been a goal of mine, but I feel great. So now that we’re as far along as we are, I don’t really want to put a cap on it. Just see how long we can keep going until we fall.
Tom Orsborn: More from Mitch on Plumlee: “He was a rookie for KG and Paul Pierce in Brooklyn, so there's quite a bit of experience and stories. … (He’s) played with high-level players and played a few different types of roles and has seen different levels of success … on different teams.”
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Joakim Noah: I had a poster of Kevin Garnett growing up. So, I had his jersey and I remember one of my first games in the NBA. I told him I was like, ‘KG, you know, you're one of my favorite players. You think, you know, we can talk after the game? I have a few questions for you.’ He was like, ‘why are you talking to me, rookie? Don't talk to me.’ And he would start talking loud. It was it was bad. He really embarrassed me in front of 25,000 people in the arena. And it's been on ever since. So, the trash talk definitely helped me. It helped me realize that there's no love during competition. Don't try to be friendly with opponents during competition. So, it was a real learning moment for me. And then when my career was over, we were able to talk to each other on a podcast and just squash the I mean beef is a strong word. I wouldn't say beef, but the rivalry.
Charlie Villanueva: There's only five players in NBA histories with 17,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 1,500 steals, and a thousand blocks: Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James and Shawn Marion. All those guys are Hall of Famers, except Shawn Marion.
Matt Bonner: So, I go to the mini camp. I'm at the summer league. I check into the first game and Kevin Garnett was sitting right courtside baseline underneath the hoop with like a bunch of his boys. And because there was only like 200 people in there, you could hear everything everyone saying. We were taking it out underneath out of bounds and he was like killing me. He was like you we talk about how redheads get made fun of. I mean, he's like, ‘This redheaded mofo,’ like ‘he can't play. You don't even have to guard his ass.’ He's just like killing me. And I'm like, ‘Dude, I'm like, come on.’ Like, I'm trying to make the team. I'm trying to make the team here. Everybody can hear it. People, there's like people in the stands laughing. I'm like, ‘Oh, this is so embarrassing.’ So I was not happy about that.
Kevin Garnett on LeBron James: 20 years of excellence in anything? Come on, man. Still catching lobs at 40 something. He gonna by far be the dopest 40-year-old player to ever hoop in our game. So, shout to Bron. He did that sh*t cuz you got to go out there and earn that. You got to suit up. You got to put the ball in the bucket. You got to show up when people expect you to show up and he has. Shout to LeBron. Paul Pierce: Nobody will have the single greatest individual career as LeBron James. When you look at top to bottom, the numbers, the accomplishments, just tops everything from All-NBA to All-Stars to the points. Nobody will ever have this type of longevity in the climate we are in in the NBA, the load management… And LeBron being at 41, he ain't even honoring the load management, like he's out there playing. He comes from a different era. Nobody's going to catch that. And I'm trying to think of a player right now who has an opportunity to do it, who's on the path. If we say like KD, he’s gonna have to play like 10 more years. Garnett: And he's gotta want to play. Q. KD's going to pass MJ in scoring this season. So that's a good accolade. Pierce: He's going to pass MJ at 33,000. To pass LeBron he needs 10,000 more points. You put 2,000 a year for the next five years, which you got to average 25 points and play all 82 games... Garnett: And he must want to play. That's another thing.
Kevin Garnett: They saying this draft is considered like ’96. Would you say that? Paul Pierce: This is one of the deepest drafts, especially with this freshman cast class that we have seen in quite some time. As far as the talent is off the chain, I'm excited for it. I haven't seen a freshman class this good in so long cuz the top five picks maybe all freshman.
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Q. What's the secret to dominating on the post? Shaquille O’Neal: I think it's my fault that the game is being played the way it's played now, because when I was dominating the post, they tried to bring in centers to bring me out from the post. ‘Okay, he's good offensively. Now, let's make him play defense and let’s pick and pop.’ And then we're all products of our generation. So, I grew up watching guys that dominated the post. But you look at Nikola Jokic, he watched Dirk Nowitzki and Dirk watched Kevin Garnett and they all watched Tim Duncan; a 6-11, 7-foot player that could pop out and shoot the jumper. So it's my fault that guys are playing soft, that’s what I call it. The key to dominating the post is just making your opponent quit, bringing the force like I used to, try to elbow you in your face on purpose to see if you can handle it. So now that I know I got you going like that I got the advantage.
Kevin Garnett: International guys have brought a bunch of flopping into the game. I can't fuck*ng stand … They are running up and down saying something to the ref. We got all this flopping and sh*t man. We weren't doing that sh*t before all that, bro. Like, I get it. It's been some greatness and it's been some weirdness that they that we've taken from that, bro. That I hate that. I hate that narrative. Like, since international players are starting younger, they So what? They're not putting out a better product. That's what I'm saying.
Paul Pierce: The two guys that should have been voted in for sure, 100%, should have been… Kevin Garnett: Jamal Murray. Pierce: LeBron James and Anthony Edwards should have been voted in. Q. Voting's only for the fans, only 50% now. Then it's 25% players, then 25% media. So, they changed the fan voting. Paul Pierce: We need to take the media out… Kevin Garnett: Take the media out of it, bro. Give it to the fans, this is a fan event… Q. But fans have like in years past like Zaza Pachulia, and Yao Ming, people were getting voted in like that. Pierce: But we running up. Hey, listen. If they got those people voting them in, right? That means more money coming in.
Tony Allen: Shout out Jaylen Brown, MVP candidate. Kevin Garnett: Put him on the list. Nobody had Boston in nothing. Paul Pierce: I got him number two in the East, I got him number two on the MVP list right now.