by Yanni Andreopoulos
For the first time in his NBA career, Kevin Garnett will play AGAINST the Minnesota Timberwolves in London’s O2 Arena.
12 years ago the Minnesota Timberwolves put their faith in a skinny,
6’11”, 19 year-old kid who had just graduated from high school. 12
years ago the Wolves drafted Kevin Garnett with the fifth overall pick
in the 1995 NBA Draft, making “the Kid” the first high school player
drafted into the NBA in over 20 years. For their faith in him he repaid
them with 12 years of loyal service.
12 years later and “the Kid” has grown up. He is now 31 and
goes by “the Big Ticket”. During those 12 years he has collected one
MVP title, 10 All-Star appearances and 8 All-NBA team honors and become
the cornerstone of the franchise. That lanky high-schooler has
developed into a marquee NBA player, a name and face recognizable
across the globe, with multi-million dollar endorsements, signature
shoe lines and a jersey that perennially ranks in the top 20 of NBA
jerseys sold worldwide. Yet one thing this superstar has never
experienced is an NBA Finals.
He came close in 2004, losing in the Western Conference Finals to the
LA Lakers, but he has not even been back to the playoffs since. Indeed,
the Timberwolves have failed to improve in any of the past three
seasons, posting a poorer record each year, behind some bad luck and
some questionable moves by the team’s front office.
The ultra-competitive Garnett refused to break ranks, despite
his frustration at the mounting losses and the apparent inability of
the Timberwolves’ front office to build a contender around him. He knew
his window of opportunity to win a championship was growing ever
smaller, but unlike many other superstars in today’s NBA, Kevin Garnett
refused to bad-mouth the organization or demand a trade. He remained
loyal to the franchise and publicly stated that he did not want to
leave ’Sota, as he calls it.
However, this off-season the team, in its rebuilding effort, was
involved in several discussions about trade possibilities involving KG.
Finally, after much negotiation and after agreeing the way forward with
Garnett himself, a blockbuster deal was arranged between Minnesota and
the Boston Celtics, who would send 5 players and two first round draft
picks to Minnesota in exchange for the right to dress the Big Ticket in
Celtic green. Garnett joins 5-time All Star Paul Pierce and 7-time All
Star Ray Allen on the Celtics, a team that many now consider to be the
favorites in the Eastern Conference and KG’s best chance to win a
championship ring before he retires.
In spite of his excitement to play on the same team as two other
All-Stars and potentially contend for a title, it was evident in
Garnett’s introductory press conference in Boston that he agonized long
and hard over his decision to leave the Minnesota Timberwolves. He
described the process of deciding to leave Minnesota as “really tough”
and characterized the three days leading up to the trade as “the
hardest 72 hours I have dealt with since I’ve been in the NBA”. He even
went so far as to say that prior to this summer he “really didn’t think
that [he] was ever going to have to think of a different alternative
when it came to playing in Minnesota”.
So KG, for so long the Timberwolves’ cornerstone and a Minnesota
sporting icon, is now a Boston Celtic. Yet Minnesota remains very dear
to him. “[Minnesota] is a beautiful city,” he said at his press
conference. “I’ll always have a home there and it will always have a
special place in my heart.” KG returns to Minnesota for the first time
on February 8th of next year, the first time he’ll wear the visiting
team’s uniform in the Target Center and a day that is sure to be
drenched with emotion, both for the player himself and the Timberwolves
faithful. However, neither that, nor the teams’ January 25th meeting in
Boston will be the first time that the teams play each other since KG’s
trade.
The first time that Kevin Garnett will direct his intense glare at the
Minnesota Timberwolves as opponents rather than teammates will be in
front of a sell-out crowd in the brand new O2 Arena in London on
October 10th, 2007, as part of the NBA Europe Live 2007 presented by EA
SPORTS. The south bank of the Thames will be the setting for the first
showdown between Garnett and the team for which he played for 12 years
and in whose jersey he became a superstar.
Many questions have been asked this summer about Garnett’s move to
Boston, including how long it will take for him to gel with Paul
Pierce, Ray Allen and the other Celtics, and how he has been affected
by the emotional maelstrom that he went through this summer, deciding
to leave his beloved ‘Sota. For a player who is as emotional as
Garnett, it will be interesting to see how he reacts to playing against
the team to which he has been so loyal these past 12 years. The
emotions may not be as raw in London as they will be in Minneapolis on
February 8th, but you can be sure to expect some fireworks in the O2
from KG against the team with which he went from being “the Kid” to
being “the Big Ticket.” |
