Steve Aschburner- How Will It End For KG?
Steve Ascburner has a great article on Garnett in today's Star Tribune. The whole thing is a must read but below is some of what Garnett has to say on staying or leaving Minnesota."I'm pretty sure it would be weird to see me playing in another uniform," Garnett said. "But I can remember Kirb always saying, 'Man, it's about winning and making sure you're happy.' One of the things I took from that dude was always respect winning, and if an organization is not in a position to keep up with that, then you may have to make a decision for yourself.
"Who knows? I take a lot of pride in being the face of the T-Wolves," he said. "Calling the Target Center the 'Garnett Center.' Knowing that I put some of these green seats in here, if not some extra blue and black. ... Owners come and go, some franchises move around, but the connection you have with the city is forever.
"I would love to stay, that's my plan. But it's got to be within the boundaries of winning."
"Getting knocked off, knocking at the door, no one answering -- those things are not only humbling, but they put a different kind of fire in you," Garnett said. "Every time you come up short, it's like seeing that girl in school every day that you're sweet on.
"It's like, she ain't ever said two words to you but all of a sudden she smiles at you. That turns into a 'hi.' A 'hi' turns into a walk down the hall. That turns into sitting with her at lunch. And then when you get that phone number, 'OK, cool!' That turns into a big opportunity.
"When you get to the Western Conference finals, you feel like you've got the phone number. And then you lose the phone number. And she moves away to a different school."
End of story? Uh, not quite.
Garnett sees seedlings of Sprewell and Cassell in Ricky Davis and Mike James, guys to share in the scoring and the drive. But that's potential, not yet real. Number's still lost.
"You have no way of getting in contact with her and you feel like you're moving backwards now," Garnett said. "You don't know any of her friends. But you know what school she's going to, so you can go up there, sit in the parking lot and look really stalk-ish."
"So when I hear about trades and about moving me, those are the things that upset me," Garnett said. "Because I'm dedicated to this. I'm invested in it wholeheartedly, and it's not about dough or any glamour. ... Sometimes you feel like you're taken for granted around here. Like, 'Hey, KG, he's known for doing this.' ... No. To hell with that."
From Glen Taylor:
"If I made a decision that we were going to rebuild, I would probably not ask Kevin to be part of that. Because I 'owe' him? No, because I respect him and all the things that he's done. I would try to help him get on a team that he could use his skills to try to win."
posted by Lil Dice @ 10/30/2006 01:03:00 PM
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