Many former NBA players have criticized what the league has become, noting how different it is now compared to when they played. Kevin Garnett hasn’t taken the same major shots as some of his contemporaries, but he had a rather fresh take on how different the NBA is.
Kevin Garnett Shares His Thoughts on the Modern NBA
In an interview for the Minnesota Timberwolves’ YouTube Channel, Garnett talked about what’s different about the league. He even went so far as to reference the best player the Timberwolves have had since he last played for them 10 years ago.
“Anthony Edwards has a yesteryear attitude when it comes to competing,” Garnett said. “I say this with respect to today’s game because today’s game is a lot more faster, a lot more technical. They exhaust dribbles a little bit too much. You can get right to it if you really want to. And it’s a bit of a showmanship. It’s a bit of an event. It’s not a sport.
“Sport when we’re on the ground. Sport, you know what I’m saying? It’s, you know, so I’m seeing how they presented and what it used to be to what it is now to fit the pallet to be able to watch.”
Garnett then revealed the problem he has with said showmanship.
“So when I’m watching today, I’m watching today. I’m not watching it to be tomorrow. So I’m giving it that respect. But you got to play with an edge and you got to be in the gym. And if your celebrity is in front of your work, then that’s a problem because a lot of this comes from you putting the work in.
“And the results from being on the court and it starts to vibrate to other opportunities and I just… Yeah, I think we need more of that at least in the work. I don’t know if all our players are working at steam engine. I don’t know if everybody’s working at peak level.”
The funny thing about Garnett was that he was one of the NBA’s fiercest competitors who loved talking trash and definitely knew how to rub it in when he was winning back in his heyday. One could argue he was a showman. However, his persona was rooted in his desire to win at all costs.
The real shame was that the Timberwolves badly fumbled what they had in Garnett, failing to build a winner around him for most of his tenure in Minnesota. Between the Joe Smith scandal and Stephon Marbury’s decision to want out, the Timberwolves fell well short of their potential despite having not just an all-timer in Garnett, but also someone who was well ahead of the curve and would have been even better in today’s game.
That hasn’t been the case with Edwards, as they’ve done as good a job as they can to build a winner around him. If Edwards can take a page out of Garnett’s book and focus more on the game than on showmanship, that may be the last piece of the puzzle for the Timberwolves.
