Minnesota Sports Forum

Forgive my ignorance, but what's the trouble with Garnett?
I did a quick search and some stuff regarding a fraud case come up and a poker dealio. Which isn't nothing but doesn't seem like too much to get upset over.

I'm not starting an argument at all about this and everyone is entitled to their opinion, I'm just curious what I missed cause I live under a rock most of the time

FNG wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2026 12:58 pm Of course something other than the game happened Sunday night...Kevin Garnett returned to the Wolves family. This will be a minority opinion here I suspect, but I was happier when he was feuding with Glen Taylor and not in the building, and I'll always be grateful to Glen for not letting KG take an ownership role. I was as big a fan as anyone in KG's early days with the Wolves, but the more I learned about him, the more I came to dislike him. It's difficult when athletes we revere disappoint us by their horrible behavior, and we have two great examples in Minnesota: KG and Kirby Puckett. Most of us know the reported bad behavior of both of them, but unfortunately I am aware of a lot more that hasn't been made public through two people close to them...a relative of KG's, and a close friend of mine who was an Edina cop and told me that one year over half of his domestic calls were to the Puckett house where Kirby was beating up his wife again.

So what do with what I know about these guys? The Puckett situation is especially challenging to me, because he was my son's #1 hero when he was growing up. We've both decided to bifurcate our thoughts about them...remember and celebrate how they entertained us on the field and court, but despise them as human beings. Maybe it's an indication of my shallowness, but I can both remember how exciting it was to watch KG in Game 7 against Sacramento, but also not want to be within 5 miles of Target Center if he is in the building.

Sorry about venting, but the fact that our biggest heroes by far in my two favorite sports were also scum hit me hard when I watched video of the ovation KG got Sunday night...it almost made me vomit. It's just another example of how we're not allowed to have nice things in Minnesota. The Bay Area gets Willie Mays and Steph Curry, two stars who are (were) also exemplary human beings, and we get Puckett and Garnett. It would have been much easier raising my sports-loving son in the Bay Area than Minnesota.

Okay, back to game planning for the Nuggets...

Is Martin Luther King a hero to you? He certainly is to a lot of people and there is no question he made a huge contribution to society. But folks who regard him as a personal hero may want to look into some of the sordid things he did when it comes to women. Some really ugly stuff there. Same with Thomas Jefferson. Same with King David. I could go on....

None of that takes away from the contributions those individuals made to society that were very positive and in some cases resonate across history for hundreds of years.

I guess that's how I look at sports "heros". They are heroic purely in the realm of whatever sport they play, but that's where it ends.

FNG wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2026 12:58 pm Of course something other than the game happened Sunday night...Kevin Garnett returned to the Wolves family. This will be a minority opinion here I suspect, but I was happier when he was feuding with Glen Taylor and not in the building, and I'll always be grateful to Glen for not letting KG take an ownership role. I was as big a fan as anyone in KG's early days with the Wolves, but the more I learned about him, the more I came to dislike him. It's difficult when athletes we revere disappoint us by their horrible behavior, and we have two great examples in Minnesota: KG and Kirby Puckett. Most of us know the reported bad behavior of both of them, but unfortunately I am aware of a lot more that hasn't been made public through two people close to them...a relative of KG's, and a close friend of mine who was an Edina cop and told me that one year over half of his domestic calls were to the Puckett house where Kirby was beating up his wife again.

So what do with what I know about these guys? The Puckett situation is especially challenging to me, because he was my son's #1 hero when he was growing up. We've both decided to bifurcate our thoughts about them...remember and celebrate how they entertained us on the field and court, but despise them as human beings. Maybe it's an indication of my shallowness, but I can both remember how exciting it was to watch KG in Game 7 against Sacramento, but also not want to be within 5 miles of Target Center if he is in the building.

Sorry about venting, but the fact that our biggest heroes by far in my two favorite sports were also scum hit me hard when I watched video of the ovation KG got Sunday night...it almost made me vomit. It's just another example of how we're not allowed to have nice things in Minnesota. The Bay Area gets Willie Mays and Steph Curry, two stars who are (were) also exemplary human beings, and we get Puckett and Garnett. It would have been much easier raising my sports-loving son in the Bay Area than Minnesota.

Okay, back to game planning for the Nuggets...

Thanks FNG for posting this. I too grew to dislike KG even while he was a Timberwolve. For me it was all on-court behavior because that's the only part I knew of him. His constant bullying of younger players, the constant use of the word motherfucker. the tough guy act even though anyone who came back at him would make him cower are just some of the things I hated about him. I have no respect for him as a human being and I share your thoughts about him being honored making us sick. Of course the fanboys will love him forever no matter what, and that is a little distasteful too. But to each their own. Funny both Puckett and KG came from Chicago (Garnett mostly grew up in SC). I'm glad I didn't see the ovation on Sunday.

I'd also like to add that Steph Curry isn't as lily white as most believe. My son in law was a professional athlete in the bay area during the earlier parts of Steph's career. Unfortunately I learned some disappointing things about him too.

FNG, if you don't mind, please message me about your knowledge of some of KG's off-court improprieties. I'd be very interested in that.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2026 3:25 pm

FNG wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2026 12:58 pm Of course something other than the game happened Sunday night...Kevin Garnett returned to the Wolves family. This will be a minority opinion here I suspect, but I was happier when he was feuding with Glen Taylor and not in the building, and I'll always be grateful to Glen for not letting KG take an ownership role. I was as big a fan as anyone in KG's early days with the Wolves, but the more I learned about him, the more I came to dislike him. It's difficult when athletes we revere disappoint us by their horrible behavior, and we have two great examples in Minnesota: KG and Kirby Puckett. Most of us know the reported bad behavior of both of them, but unfortunately I am aware of a lot more that hasn't been made public through two people close to them...a relative of KG's, and a close friend of mine who was an Edina cop and told me that one year over half of his domestic calls were to the Puckett house where Kirby was beating up his wife again.

So what do with what I know about these guys? The Puckett situation is especially challenging to me, because he was my son's #1 hero when he was growing up. We've both decided to bifurcate our thoughts about them...remember and celebrate how they entertained us on the field and court, but despise them as human beings. Maybe it's an indication of my shallowness, but I can both remember how exciting it was to watch KG in Game 7 against Sacramento, but also not want to be within 5 miles of Target Center if he is in the building.

Sorry about venting, but the fact that our biggest heroes by far in my two favorite sports were also scum hit me hard when I watched video of the ovation KG got Sunday night...it almost made me vomit. It's just another example of how we're not allowed to have nice things in Minnesota. The Bay Area gets Willie Mays and Steph Curry, two stars who are (were) also exemplary human beings, and we get Puckett and Garnett. It would have been much easier raising my sports-loving son in the Bay Area than Minnesota.

Okay, back to game planning for the Nuggets...

Is Martin Luther King a hero to you? He certainly is to a lot of people and there is no question he made a huge contribution to society. But folks who regard him as a personal hero may want to look into some of the sordid things he did when it comes to women. Some really ugly stuff there. Same with Thomas Jefferson. Same with King David. I could go on....

None of that takes away from the contributions those individuals made to society that were very positive and in some cases resonate across history for hundreds of years.

I guess that's how I look at sports "heros". They are heroic purely in the realm of whatever sport they play, but that's where it ends.

Q, I think we can continue this discussion here, because it is Wolves related and timely based on KG's visit to Target Center Sunday...unless Tim thinks it doesn't belong here.

You raise some fair questions, and I can tell you my position: I measure the good the individual provided society against his transgressions, and use that to form my opinion on whether to celebrate him or not. King was a known serial philanderer, but there is no credible evidence of any violence or sexual abuse of women. I'm far from a choir boy myself, but violence or sexual abuse clearly crosses a line for me, and I don't think King crossed it. You may be able to make a case that Jefferson raped his slave, but as distasteful as that sounds today, I think we need to make allowances for behaviors that were more acceptable 250 years ago. I celebrate King and Jefferson, because although they had flaws like all of us, their contributions far exceed their transgressions. Don't get me started on David...I'll never understand God's devotion to him after he had the husband of his lover killed on the battlefield. But it was 3000 years ago...I may even forgive Puckett and KG in 3000 years!

KG is at a different level though. The stuff we know about is bad enough...getting a woman who was married to someone else pregnant, his ugly divorce from Brandi, and whatever happened a year ago that caused the police to have to make a domestic call at 2am to his girlfriends house. Athletes and other powerful individuals are able to suppress news about much of what they do...as I said, it was not common knowledge that the Edina police were regularly at Puckett's house after he beat up his wife, and I also know there are things about KG that go far beyond cheating on his wife. He's a thug.

I'm not here to tell people whom they should celebrate, and I have no problem if someone thinks the admittedly wonderful moments KG and Kirby provided us fans allow them to overlook their terrible behavior...that's their prerogative. I'm just saying I won't be in the arena the night they retire KG's jersey...he's not the kind of guy I'm going to celebrate.

Coolbreeze44 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2026 4:11 pm

FNG wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2026 12:58 pm Of course something other than the game happened Sunday night...Kevin Garnett returned to the Wolves family. This will be a minority opinion here I suspect, but I was happier when he was feuding with Glen Taylor and not in the building, and I'll always be grateful to Glen for not letting KG take an ownership role. I was as big a fan as anyone in KG's early days with the Wolves, but the more I learned about him, the more I came to dislike him. It's difficult when athletes we revere disappoint us by their horrible behavior, and we have two great examples in Minnesota: KG and Kirby Puckett. Most of us know the reported bad behavior of both of them, but unfortunately I am aware of a lot more that hasn't been made public through two people close to them...a relative of KG's, and a close friend of mine who was an Edina cop and told me that one year over half of his domestic calls were to the Puckett house where Kirby was beating up his wife again.

So what do with what I know about these guys? The Puckett situation is especially challenging to me, because he was my son's #1 hero when he was growing up. We've both decided to bifurcate our thoughts about them...remember and celebrate how they entertained us on the field and court, but despise them as human beings. Maybe it's an indication of my shallowness, but I can both remember how exciting it was to watch KG in Game 7 against Sacramento, but also not want to be within 5 miles of Target Center if he is in the building.

Sorry about venting, but the fact that our biggest heroes by far in my two favorite sports were also scum hit me hard when I watched video of the ovation KG got Sunday night...it almost made me vomit. It's just another example of how we're not allowed to have nice things in Minnesota. The Bay Area gets Willie Mays and Steph Curry, two stars who are (were) also exemplary human beings, and we get Puckett and Garnett. It would have been much easier raising my sports-loving son in the Bay Area than Minnesota.

Okay, back to game planning for the Nuggets...

Thanks FNG for posting this. I too grew to dislike KG even while he was a Timberwolve. For me it was all on-court behavior because that's the only part I knew of him. His constant bullying of younger players, the constant use of the word motherfucker. the tough guy act even though anyone who came back at him would make him cower are just some of the things I hated about him. I have no respect for him as a human being and I share your thoughts about him being honored making us sick. Of course the fanboys will love him forever no matter what, and that is a little distasteful too. But to each their own. Funny both Puckett and KG came from Chicago (Garnett mostly grew up in SC). I'm glad I didn't see the ovation on Sunday.

I'm sorry to hear about Curry...I expect and mostly tolerate bad behavior from pro athletes, but I've always thought Curry was one of the good guys. Well, most people thought Puckett was one of the good guys too, and he was a total dirt bag.

Cool, I feel comfortable telling the Puckett domestic violence stories because my Edina cop friend source died of cancer 10 years ago. But my KG source is still alive and kicking, so I need to keep those stories to myself. But if you watch his podcast, it's pretty easy to determine what kind of guy he is. You know, the kind of fake tough guy who would sucker punch a teammate in the locker room after a practice (everyone knows that story, I think).

Damn FNG I would really like you hear what you know on KG as well. Not sure what harm it would do on a small message board like this. I assume it's gotta be worse than just getting someone's wife pregnant. To play devils advocate on that what if he didn't even know she was married. To me that speaks more on the woman who cheated on her husband then on him. I am sure though you have to have something more as infidelity seems pretty common amongst professional athletes.

Not saying that shouldn't be looked at as something one shouldn't do but you just said it was OK for MLK to do the same. I too would be interested to know as people typically aren't always who we make them out to be.

Crazysauce wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2026 6:12 pm Damn FNG I would really like you hear what you know on KG as well. Not sure what harm it would do on a small message board like this. I assume it's gotta be worse than just getting someone's wife pregnant. To play devils advocate on that what if he didn't even know she was married. To me that speaks more on the woman who cheated on her husband then on him. I am sure though you have to have something more as infidelity seems pretty common amongst professional athletes.

Not saying that shouldn't be looked at as something one shouldn't do but you just said it was OK for MLK to do the same. I too would be interested to know as people typically aren't always who we make them out to be.

Can't do it, Crazy. KG's relative who told me about things he had done speaks positively about him publicly, but not privately, and he's pretty well known...so don't feel comfortable talking about it. I agree that infidelity is common in the NBA, and I'm not going to judge someone only based on that. KG is at a different level though. I don't want to spoil it for those who still love him for what he did for us suffering fans, and I probably should have kept my mouth shut...it's just that the tribute Sunday put me over the edge.

What is this, TMZ!? I find it weird that folks would ask FNG to divulge damning information on KG that he has under someone else's confidence for their own personal consumption/pleasure/validation. What is the value in that? Answer: There is none.

Q-is-here wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2026 8:18 pm What is this, TMZ!? I find it weird that folks would ask FNG to divulge damning information on KG that he has under someone else's confidence for their own personal consumption/pleasure/validation. What is the value in that? Answer: There is none.

Ha, thanks Q. But this is my fault...I used bad judgment in bringing it up in the first place. Sunday night got the best of me and I acted inappropriately.