Kevin Garnett was one of the NBA’s most uniquely talented players. He revolutionized the power forward position as a 6-foot-11 string bean out of high school and even got the entire league hooked on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
But make no mistake: A lot of people hated KG.
The former Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics star developed a reputation as one of the game’s biggest trash talkers, driving opponents crazy with his nonstop chatter. So, it should be no surprise that when The Players’ Tribune asked former big man Kenyon Martin to name “The 5 Guys Everybody Hated Playing Against,” Garnett made the cut.
“He never said (expletive) to me, but guys hated going against Kevin,” Martin explained in an article Wednesday. “Pull up any video, and Kevin is just barking at some dude. Or he would be talking to nobody at all — just talking to talk. It was constant, so it just got under people’s skin.”
“It wasn’t so much that KG would be overly physical with people, but some people couldn’t handle all the chatter. It was pretty damn annoying.”
Martin’s assessment is spot-on, although Garnett’s outspoken personality served him quite well during an illustrious NBA career that included a championship with the Celtics in 2008.
Garnett had some distinguished company on Martin’s list, too: former journeyman Reggie Evans, retired Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, Lakers forward Ron Artest and ex-Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan rounded out Martin’s top five.
Thumbnail photo via Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports Images
