Hating Kevin Garnett is a Brotherhood
This is the intro to the post where I say that I’ve always liked Kevin Garnett. I’ve always liked Kevin Garnett.
But then I mention that this season he’s really upped the ante on being a huge juicebag and how that it’s been even worse in the playoffs.
But this year, he’s been a huge juicebag. I mean, really a lot guys. The clapping in dudes faces and showing up other teams and generally just being a caricature of himself since his health and skills are deteriorating.
About now, you’ll say “his skills aren’t deteriorating! He’s been hurt,” especially if you’re one of the 19,000 Celtics bloggers. But then I’ll point out how he’s missed the most games he’s ever missed in his career and this is his worst season since he was 22. So we’re both basically right, since he’s never going to get totally better. Then I’ll press on with how he’s being a jerk.
And in this playoff series against the Bulls, he’s really being a jerk. Well, I don’t necessarily know if he’s being a jerk, but he’s certainly being 11 years old. Like when the Celtics told him that he had to sit on the bench even though he is so intense that he can’t sit on a bench and watch basketball like a grown-up. Then when he decided he couldn’t take it anymore, he went to the locker room during game 1. But the Celtics had to tell him that they needed him on the bench, which they had already told him before, but apparently that was intensed out of his intense mind. You know, typical 32 year old stuff.
Or when he spent the next four games yelling and swearing at the Bulls like a shortstop in your Little League that no one liked at school.
But then we’ll both realize that that shortstop was actually in the game, so this analogy needs some modification.
But the funny thing is, the shortstop is actually on the field. So I guess it would be more like the shortstop’s friend yelling from behind the third base fence that you suck for four games. And everybody on the other team is like, “who is that kid? He’s not even playing. Doesn’t he have anything better to do?” It’s basically the exact same situation, except that Kevin Garnett is 32.
Now I’ll realize that I should probably address the fact that Garnett has always done this.
Of course, Garnett has always done this kind of thing. But there’s a huge difference now that he’s NOT ACTUALLY PLAYING. I mean, yeah, he can punch his teammates and attack smaller players when he’s the main guy on the court because I guess that’s honorable and intense. But no one’s going to attack an injured guy, so Garnett has free reign to just act like a juicebag kid all he wants, I suppose.
Long live Anthony Peeler, if he’s still alive.
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Quickly about the foul, since Matt provoked a response. It’s flagrant. Matt points to the Bynum foul as evidence that it wasn’t, so I’ll invoke the Horford foul, which was a flagrant, in support of my argument. Horford was going for the ball (on a fast break, against a quicker player, which is harder to judge) and he got called for a flagrant. Rondo did the same thing (though his was in the halfcourt, on a slower play, when he’s way quicker than the guy going to the hoop), as he fouled on the head, from behind. Miller just didn’t fall down because he’s way bigger. Rondo was still a good two feet away from being close to the ball even if he was “trying.” Like Barkley said, “it’s the result, not the intent.” It should have been a flagrant.
Nonetheless, I can’t weigh in on the game since I was at the Flight of the Conchords concert and missed everything but the highlights. The missed call didn’t lose the Bulls the game. They did that themselves way before that. Either way, Bulls in 7.
Oster-Tags: completely emotional possible overreactions
[...] larynx with his razor sharp teeth. He just can’t control himself! This is not an excuse. As Trey wrote yesterday, what Kevin Garnett does is not, in any context, normal or “being a good teammate.” [...]