Thursday, May 17th, 2012 at 2:25 pm  |  191 responses

Tim Duncan Reportedly ‘Hates’ Kevin Garnett


As two of the greatest power forwards not only of their generation, but of all time, the careers of Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan will always be linked. Just don’t expect the two legends to become buddies anytime soon (or ever), according to a terrific profile of Duncan in SI this week: “In fact, Duncan hates Kevin Garnett. Hates him the way liberals hate Sean Hannity. This information comes from very reliable sources, who talk about how KG has made a career of trying to punk Duncan, baiting him and slapping him and whispering really weird smack into his ear. They talk about how funny this is, because the worst thing you can do as an opponent is piss off Duncan. Then, as Malik Rose says, ‘he f—— destroys you.’ Duncan’s lifetime numbers versus Garnett’s teams, by the way: 19.4 points per game, 11.6 boards and a 44-17 record, including the postseason. Duncan is diplomatic about the topic. Asked if perhaps all those years battling Garnett have softened his feelings for the man, led to a Magic-Larry type of kinship, Duncan leans back on the couch in his hotel room and grins. There is a pause. A longer pause. Finally he says, ‘Define kinship.’”

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  • shutup

    Stephen Jackson wasn’t the focal point on the team though. The brawl at the palace that falls on Ron Artest’s shoulders. I never heard of KG being a bad locker room guy, except the case he made Big Baby cry but that’s not saying much. I meant the clash of egos that ultimately led to Marbury leaving town.

  • MikeC.

    KG is one of the only players who I can say was right to skip college. Sure, he wasn’t likely to get admitted without going Juco first, but just for basketball reasons, college might have messed up his game. A college coach likely would have turned him into a back to the basket center. He wouldn’t have been the multi-faceted threat he is.

  • MikeC.

    @shutup – from what I’ve read, Marbury was the main reason that duo was split up. Partly jealousy over KG’s contract and status with the team, but mostly Marbury was just homesick and wanted to go back East so he could be closer to his family. There’s likely more to it, but I’ve never read or heard of any clashes between KG and Marbury. When asked, they always talk about how regretful they are that they didn’t stick together, and it doesn’t come off as publicity spin like when Shaq talks nice about Kobe.

  • shutup

    We have never seen the complete pf game that Duncan has, sorry to disagree. Better defender than McHale, head and shoulders better than Daugherty was and Lew Alcindor was a center, but if you wanna compare centers to these guys Olajuwan was Garnett long before he was, or if you wanna stretch it Pippen does Garnett just better. Malone played more like Garnett than he did Duncan, try to remember young Malone was very athletic and quick and imo a better passer than both Duncan and KG and was a smarter player than KG ever was, although Malone was never the defender KG or TD are.

  • shutup

    @mikeC Moses Malone and Shawn Kemp

  • Heals

    Yeah Brad is right cause in 08′ Ticket was DPOY and coulda (I think shoulda) won MVP, but yeah as far as his team goes maybe 4th option at best that year. Especially on D, I mean pick n’ rolls just ate him up. Played without any enthusiasm…

  • MikeC.

    ^ Duncan has been a 5 since The Admiral was decommissioned. Unless you want to say Robert Horry, Dejuan Blair and Matt “haircut suspension” Bonner are the real centers that Duncan played with. I’m not trying to poopoo on Duncan, or even say KG is better. Duncan is and has been a 5.

  • Heals

    And for all the criticism about KG in the “clutch,” Malone was a TOTAL mess when it mattered most. At least KG can win games on D despite his hot potato tendencies as Da Kid…

  • http://slamonline.com The Philosopher

    My bad. I thought you were primarily speaking of humility between players. Such as the multiple players that were discussed earlier. In comparison and as opposed to Kevin Garnett.
    So, one’s status as a focal point to a team can dictate the humility of a player?
    If a player does not possess status, he is allowed to run into the stands of a stadium and assault fans without humility being observed?

  • MikeC.

    @shutup – never saw Moses play. Kemp might have been better off going to college. He might have got some free rubbers from the campus health clinic and avoided a whole mess of trouble.

  • http://cnbc.com New_Guy

    If you read the SI article it talked about how his mom died when TD was 14. Still a dick move but it’s not what NBK made it out to be

  • robb

    F*ck Garnett

  • Scalabrine for MVP

    Allenp is a hater. I’ll comment all I want and your mom will hear about this when I see her tonight.

  • shutup

    The humility had nothing to do with the confrontation once the situation got out of hand Jackson is hood thru and thru, he went in the stands to help Artest. The humility I spoke of had to do with giving complete control and even letting the coach make an example out of you, thus bucking the trend of diva like superstars, it was also on exhibit when ever Pop would hold him accountable in front of the team and I have heard this on many occasions that once the team superstar gives in to the coach as a role player you have to follow suit. But Duncans ability to defer which was on full exhibit during the last championship is the glue that has kept people from jumping ship and letting new players find their role. As for Duncan being a 5 its laughable, there is almost always another big on the floor with him who runs the center lane on the fast break, i’m not gonna dive into that too much just review Spurs history and you’ll see.

  • MikeC.

    I reviewed some Spurs history. I forgot about notable pivotmen Menke Bateer and Jackie Butler. Duncan was and is a 5. Just because he calls himself a 4 doesn’t mean he doesn’t play the 5. With the trend away from true centers, there hasn’t really been a difference between the 4 and 5 positions since Ewing, Robinson, Hakeem, etc retired and Shaq began to fade. 4 or 5, hasn’t really mattered for a few years unless your team is playing Dwight Howard or Andrew Bynum.

  • shutup

    You just answered your own question the line between 4-5 is blurred so why in your mind is Duncan not a 4 that handles some 5 responsibilities. So Splitter isnt a center? Mohammed wasn’t a center? Nesterovic? Elson? Melvin Ely? not saying these guys are great but they were truer centers.

  • deadbored

    Great discussion guys. really good points on both sides. Ill have to say Duncan is the greater player, but i dont think anyone was denying that. As for KG, I think that his skill set and tenacity eclipse Duncan. The thing is we shouldnt praise a player just for being talented, when this sport is about winning championships as a team. Thats why Duncan wins. Someone said that KG could have won chips if he had the right support cast and maybe it might have truth to it but i dont think we can use hypothetical situations, it just starts to get messy. I would just like to add, that KG is my pick as fav player because thats my thing and people seem to forget the DPOY, the ring, the MVP and the 4 time consecutive league leader in rebounds. Still got loads of respect for the quiet acheivers though! ps i know that TD has better achievements than that but i like that KG was able to do those things with the way he goes about his business.

  • deadbored

    @mike C…i dont really see what point you are trying to make here? TD is a power forward. no doubt about it.

  • Drig

    Duncan’s a legit 5 and plays like a traditional big man should……with freaky consistency. He was also a force in his prime.

  • Drig

    Damn, what is it with Slam not displaying my entire post??? To summarise, Duncan was a best at all times in his prime ( This Laker fan can attest to that ) However, KG was more versatile and better guy to guard on switches as he could guard from 1-5. Duncan’s a better shot blocker and a worse perimeter shooter.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    I didn’t know robots could feel emotion…?

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    The thing I find really interesting… is for all their all-star appearances together on the Western Conf. team they seemed to have quite a good chemistry.
    ___
    I could easily believe that though that KG would dog a man he was playing against… and turn around and be his mate on the same team… it’s that ‘MWP philosophy’.
    : /

  • Quinito Henson

    Which is why a Boston-San Antonio NBA Finals series would be particularly interesting

  • http://www.slamonline.com Rasho Nesterovic

    Timmy was way better….didnt always look at me like he was a black panther and i was his prey. More like a soft giraffe.

  • RedRum

    There is no discussion. KG has a unique skill set for his height. Granted. But this needs to to translate into success. Which it did not. I have said here that I rank Duncan as the 3rd (after MJ and Magic) maybe 2nd (after MJ) player ever. shocking, I know… But Duncan is the best two-way player the game has ever seen (only after MJ), though Hakeem could be in the discussion. Couple his skillset with a clutch/winning mentality and humbleness that perfused the SA teams for 15 years now, there is no discussion how much better Duncan is than KG. Here is a stat that goes by unnoticed: Since 1997, the Spurs have a winning percentage of 69%, the highest winning percentage for such a long period in the history of any sport in the US! No team ever has won so much for such a long time, and TD has a lot to do with it.

  • Wall Ball

    @shutup:Duncan played the 5 in college. If D-Rob wouldn’t have been on the Spurs he would have played his natural position, 5. K G loved playing with Steph. K G was hurt when Stephon left. They didn’t speak for years. They played one year together. You can’t compare Tony Parker/Duncan now to KG/Steph then….Steph is from New York and WE ALL know how New York cats operate. Steph said out of his mouth that he wanted to play closer to home. He was in Minnesota for crying out loud. Steph had the ego not Garnett. He wanted to be the MAN and not play second fiddle. Early K G was always praised for his humility and his ability to want to learn from the elders and be great. He’s extra now but then he wasn’t. Put him in the same system and he wins the same amount or more. This playoffs he has been the best player hands down for his team, at 36.

  • Thegfunk

    Can alot of sources really be trusted about the character and personality of players? If I had met the men then maybe one could be a better judge. Anyway, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Chris Webber were all unique players; for one, they can all handle the ball really well and are killer post players. Ain’t enough one-on-one post match-ups that go on today that caught my eye like they did earlier in the 2000′s and 90′s.

  • MikeC.

    Agree to disagree shutup. My take is that Duncan would have been a 5 full time if Admiral hadn’t been there. By the time DRob left, Duncan was more comfortable playing the 4 so the Spurs got some other 7-footers to play beside him instead of officially shifting him to the 5. He was always officially a 4, but the Spurs championship crunch time lineups tended to feature Robert Horry at the 4 and Duncan slid to the 5. I will concede that Duncan’s skillset and size allowed him to play both spots equally well. Also, Melvin Ely is a 3rd string 4, not a 5.

  • Kadavour

    @MikeC.: thank you for championing an argument i’ve been making for YEARS.
    Duncan was listed as a 4 to avoid competing for the 5 position with SHAQ at All Star Games.
    Yall already know Duncan came in when the Admiral still had some good years on him, and they were billed as the Twin Towers, so cut the nonsense. Yes, he had a set shot and his off the glass trickery, but how is that different from EWING or DREAM?

  • http://www.twitter.com_dfrance dfrance21

    Slam needs to stop posting new articles at 5pm because I’m only on here during work and I missed this whole conversation. Anyway I’m a diehard KG fan, but I readily admit that Duncan was the more dominant player. If KG was a little more selfish offensively, it would be a different story. I do believe however, that KG would have had just as much success if he played on those Spurs teams. I think he’s shown, by playing out of position a lot in his career, that he’s willing to do whatever the coach needs him to and Pop could have gotten him down on the block more or whatever was needed. I truly believe that while KG is a jerk on the court, he really doesn’t mean what he says, he just does it to rile people up and get an edge. I refuse to believe that Mothers Day sh1t tho. And Duncan is a trash talker himself, don’t let the quiet persona fool you. He may not be as nasty as KG is with it, but he talks.

  • Kadavour

    agreed DFrance, this conjecture about KG not producing in Pop’s system is plain silly. He’s the consummate competitor, the man you want to play with, and the man don’t want to play against.

  • http://www.google.com/news BETCATS

    Am I the only one who wants more details on KG’s tendencies of “whispering really weird smack into his ear”? Someone please define really weird.

  • IamYOU

    What?!? they hateseach other? I have a closet full of Adidas poster of KG and Timmy smiling together whathehell?!

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Lakeshow
    Stockton has been accused of setting the dirtiest screens of any player in the history of the League.
    It’s funny that he had the choirboy rep.

  • shutup

    I can agree to disagree, but the argument that Duncan played the 5 in college is weak, many now pg played the 2 guard in college does that make them 2 guards? The move to pf has nothing to do with competing with Shaq, if The Spurs call him a 4 then he’s a 4 it really doesn’t matter what anyone else says he starts at the 4 and has his entire career. Obv he didn’t play the 5 when he came into the league so he learned the 4, flourished and stayed there. Could he play the 5? Yes, but why should have to switch away from where he found success from his rookie year. and Duncan is only like 6-10, the same height as T-Mac and an inch or two shorter than Garnett, go look at the adidas ad from slam a while back. Lastly my problem isn’t that KG wouldn’t have had success with Pop but to say he’s interchangeable with Duncan is a disservice to Duncan. Duncan and KG aren’t the same player, KG prefers to shoot jumpshots and avoids the post and isnt as good against double teams, TD plays help defense (Which the Spurs are built on) anchors the team on the offensive end giving the Spurs an inside out threat (obv talking about older Spurs teams, but it still fits the way Duncan is killing in the post)they are both great but are not the same player, teammate or team leaders so know success wouldn’t just translate over just like switching Kobe for Ray Allen or T-Mac on those Lakers teams with Shaq wouldn’t have been the same thing either.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Duncan is the better scorer and more dominant. KG is the more versatile and athletic.
    Both of them are great leaders. Both of them respect coaching. KG played with the softest coach in the League who has been disrespected in every stop he’s made since Minnesota, and they never clashed. Flip Saunders was disrespected openly in Detroit and Washington by vets and young players. But not by KG.
    Duncan’s scoring ability and clutch play are the reason why he is better in my opinion. I dont know if KG would have had the same success, but he would have won enough championships that all this talk about him not being a winner wouldn’t exist.
    Also, how many rings would Duncan have won with that Minnesota cast and Flip Saunders coaching him?

  • MikeC.

    @AllenP – Duncan wouldn’t have won anything in Minny either. I bet he would have signed on the dotted line when he took that recruiting trip to Orlando though. Duncan is a loyal and classy guy, but that goes both ways with the Spurs being a loyal and classy organization.

  • http://www.twitter.com_dfrance dfrance21

    The answer is 0 Allenp
    and CO-SIGN Philo @ 8:42 last night.

  • shutup

    I’m sorry I don’t see Garnett winning any chips in San Antonio and some might consider that blasphemy but the differences are what make made Duncan as successful as he has been. Duncan wouldn’t have one sh!t in Minnesota, few fail to realize that Duncan played the draft like it was chess not checkers, he could have made the leap a year earlier and might have been #1 overall, Iverson went #1 so it’s arguable, and ended up in a situation that he didn’t want to be in, not saying he hasn’t been lucky, but him and Garnett are only interchangeable in the conversation of who is your fave pf of all time, not in their contribution to achieve ultimate success. In a recipe you can swap out tomatoes for strawberries just because they are both fruit. These hypothetical arguments frustrate me, so that being said I will leave it at this I respectful disagree with your analysis and look forward to the next debate. :)

  • shutup

    ^*can’t

  • MikeC.

    Co-sign shutup – this has been a good thread with solid points made all around. Good debates masterdebators.

  • t-sizzle

    Don’t you mean masturb*tors?

  • aj

    Journalism 101. Get your facts straight. Where did this 44-17 record come from? That’s wrong. You fail as a journalist.

  • Doris

    Overall TD21 is way much better on and off court. KG’s ONLY advantage is his athletiscm, that’s it. TD has improved his jump shots and sorta FTs. TD is an islander where they tend to relax more, so he moves slow and take time slowly but surely. An aweseme TEAM leader~

  • Dennis

    Timmy u don’t want no part of KC, your too soft I don’t care how may rings u got. U may hate KC, but Bro don’t voice
    That too loud you just might see KC in the finals.

  • Dennis

    Timmy u don’t want no part of KC, your too soft I don’t care how may rings u got. U may hate KC, but Bro don’t voice
    That too loud you just might see KC in the finals.

  • Greg

    quick, somebody give kg the heimlich maneuver, he’s choking again!!! LOL!!!

  • http://slamonline.com LakeShow

    Kentucky “Big Ticket” Chicken vs Timmy D. I like it…

  • http://www.google.com/news BETCATS

    Dennis, who is KC? KC Jones?

  • MikeC.

    KC Jones can’t guard Duncan. That’s a fact that I’m certain can be proven by genuine scienticians.

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