Minnesota Sports Forum

lipoli390 wrote:LST -- You obviously have great sources. Everything you wrote is consistent with what I've heard from people who know. KG absolutely wanted to play this season. But that's not what Thibs wanted. Signing Aldrich and Jordan Hill sent clear signals to KG that he wasn't in Thibs' plans. The young players have done a great job of "saying the right things" about KG. But KAT is the only guy who doesn't dislike KG and even KAT has overstated his affection. Nevertheless, I'm glad both sides have been publicly positive so this team can move forward without a cloud of drama revolving around KG. Credit KG and the organization for taking the high road.

lipoli390 wrote:

PorkChop wrote:Only Minnesota athlete and one of a select few in all of sports that didn't crumble under the pressures of his big contract . Brought it every night individually and made players around him better from a position that's difficult to do so. Loyal, fierce, leadership and durable (thru his first 15 years) everything you'd want in your teams best player . No one earns 300 million but I never felt short changed when he walked off the court .
There have been great players that were apart of better teams in Minny but I believe him to be the best individual athlete to ever suit up in our state.
He was everything the Twins needed Joe to be .

Kirby didn't crumble. The difference is that Puckett didn't have as big a contract, agreeing instead to a home town discount. He and KG are clearly the two best professional players in MN history. I don't see one as better than the other. Puckett's health cut his career a bit short.

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

PorkChop wrote:Only Minnesota athlete and one of a select few in all of sports that didn't crumble under the pressures of his big contract . Brought it every night individually and made players around him better from a position that's difficult to do so. Loyal, fierce, leadership and durable (thru his first 15 years) everything you'd want in your teams best player . No one earns 300 million but I never felt short changed when he walked off the court .
There have been great players that were apart of better teams in Minny but I believe him to be the best individual athlete to ever suit up in our state.
He was everything the Twins needed Joe to be .

Kirby didn't crumble. The difference is that Puckett didn't have as big a contract, agreeing instead to a home town discount. He and KG are clearly the two best professional players in MN history. I don't see one as better than the other. Puckett's health cut his career a bit short.

As athletes both guys left it all out on the field and played hard every night and brought it every single night. KG did it for years and years consistently. It was actually easy to take it for granted.

longstrangetrip wrote:

monsterpile wrote:There is some good stuff out there about KG and it's time for a thread dedicated to his retirement and his career. Here is a really good read from Jimmy Jam.

http://theundefeated.com/features/kevin-garnett-jimmy-jam/

Thx for that, monster...enjoyed it a lot.

Anyone who knows or has even just met Jimmy Jam Harris knows he is one of the nicest guys to ever walk this planet...unable to ever make a negative comment about anyone, and doesn't have an enemy in the world. But he sees that world through rose-colored glasses, and what he leaves out of this story is significant. Yes, he did introduce KG to Brandi, but more importantly, he talked he out of leavng the marriage many times when KG misbehaved over and over again...and it's good he did too, because from an outsider's perspective, the marriage seems pretty good now by NBA standards (and KG appears to be a dutiful father). I also smiled at Jam's implication that it was KG's (and his friends') decision whether he played this year or not. It clearly was not. Thibs wanted nothing to do with having him on the roster, and I don't think Glen did either. Rubes like me bought into the "KG mentor" bit last season, and it was indeed valid for the first 20 games of the season. And the team (players and management) kept the bit alive, so that guys like me bought into it (some of you were more perceptive than me, and mocked it). But now it's becoming clear that KG was a cancer on the team well before Sam got fired (although that exacerbated his bad attitude) and there was no way he was ever going to be back this season.

But it looks like it is going to turn out just fine, and I say hats off to the Timberwolves (and KG, to some extent) and to surrogates like Harris who are going to continue to paint a rosy picture of the KG relationship. KG will get his retirement night (and rubes like me will get emotional and give him a standing ovation like nothing bad ever happened) and the parting will seem amicable to the outside world. And that's the best thing that can happen right now.

Drama over...let's get on with this 55-win season!

PorkChop wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

PorkChop wrote:Only Minnesota athlete and one of a select few in all of sports that didn't crumble under the pressures of his big contract . Brought it every night individually and made players around him better from a position that's difficult to do so. Loyal, fierce, leadership and durable (thru his first 15 years) everything you'd want in your teams best player . No one earns 300 million but I never felt short changed when he walked off the court .
There have been great players that were apart of better teams in Minny but I believe him to be the best individual athlete to ever suit up in our state.
He was everything the Twins needed Joe to be .

Kirby didn't crumble. The difference is that Puckett didn't have as big a contract, agreeing instead to a home town discount. He and KG are clearly the two best professional players in MN history. I don't see one as better than the other. Puckett's health cut his career a bit short.

As athletes both guys left it all out on the field and played hard every night and brought it every single night. KG did it for years and years consistently. It was actually easy to take it for granted.

I thought about Kirby too and he was a great player but I think he's a small notch down from KG by no fault of his own (glaucoma). KGs a top 15-20 player in History and top 3-5 at his position. Kirby by most "experts" standards is top 120 and top 15 at his position . Again had he played for 18 years it's a different argument. But I do love me some Kirby!

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

PorkChop wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

lipoli390 wrote:

PorkChop wrote:Only Minnesota athlete and one of a select few in all of sports that didn't crumble under the pressures of his big contract . Brought it every night individually and made players around him better from a position that's difficult to do so. Loyal, fierce, leadership and durable (thru his first 15 years) everything you'd want in your teams best player . No one earns 300 million but I never felt short changed when he walked off the court .
There have been great players that were apart of better teams in Minny but I believe him to be the best individual athlete to ever suit up in our state.
He was everything the Twins needed Joe to be .

Kirby didn't crumble. The difference is that Puckett didn't have as big a contract, agreeing instead to a home town discount. He and KG are clearly the two best professional players in MN history. I don't see one as better than the other. Puckett's health cut his career a bit short.

As athletes both guys left it all out on the field and played hard every night and brought it every single night. KG did it for years and years consistently. It was actually easy to take it for granted.

I thought about Kirby too and he was a great player but I think he's a small notch down from KG by no fault of his own (glaucoma). KGs a top 15-20 player in History and top 3-5 at his position. Kirby by most "experts" standards is top 120 and top 15 at his position . Again had he played for 18 years it's a different argument. But I do love me some Kirby!

Sure. I can see that. But there are some contextual things there as well...

Baseball has been around for nearly 2x as long... with more than 2x as many players per team. Puckett also played a significant role in capturing both of Minnesota's championships. 7 top 7 finishes for MVP in 12 seasons aint too shabby either for a baseball player.

PorkChop wrote:I remember being a 16 year old kid working at the pizza ranch trying to hurry up and get the place cleaned up for the night so I could go hang out with my friends. But dammit , trying to get that place vacuumed in 15 minutes turned out to be an impossibl3 task becuz the Wolves were playing on that fuzzy old 60 inch projection screen. I found myself running that ole KIrby in the same place while I was dialed in to that TV waiting for KG to do something special. I swear I wore holes into that carpet. Point is I try and remember how these guys made me feel 20 years ago and man he was pretty damn special to me. He kept me an avid Wolves fan than and it has stuck going forward. All this other stuff pales in comparison to how he made me love the Wolves back then and going forward. I gotta believe a huge portion of Wolves fans out there can blame KG for holes in their carpet too. So to speak.