KEVIN GARNETT has a long memory. It stems from, and also happens to fuel, his competitiveness. And he never forgets slights. During his playing days, he used them to keep focused on his intent to get the better of opponents. Heck, he found them even when there were seemingly none, and made sure to provide payback without letup. He simply didn’t take a play off. Doing so was beneath him; doing so would have prevented him from meeting his objective. Which is why he managed to put together a Hall-of-Fame career, and why he stands to be remembered among the Top 25 players in pro hoops annals.
These days, Garnett has nothing left to prove. He’s headed to Springfield as part of a star-studded 2020 Class. He’ll be enshrined alongside such notables as Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant, and without shame. He deserves to be front and center with them in August (assuming, of course, that the new coronavirus pandemic has been contained by then), just as he deserves to see the Celtics raise his jersey to the rafters next year. And, yes, precisely because of his accomplishments, he deserves to give himself a break. He can’t keep on holding grudges as if he still needs to in order to get ahead.
Perhaps Garnett has cause to stay angry. No doubt, Ray Allen’s refusal to communicate at all with him and other supposedly close teammates during a tumultuous offseason in 2012 hurt him, and not just because the hated Heat became beneficiaries of the breakup. And, no doubt, Glen Taylor’s refusal to, in his recollection, honor a verbal agreement he had with Flip Saunders hurt him, and not just because he would have landed in the Timberwolves’ front office. It’s a matter of pride, period. He believes his word to be his bond, and he expects the same from everybody else.
On the other hand, there is simply no benefit to staying stuck in the past. Frankly, Allen couldn’t care less if he moved on or not. And Taylor is the same. Meanwhile, he’s left to look like a fool who can’t take the high road — even if it’s clearly best for him. He conveniently forgot that he wouldn’t have gone to the Celtics in the first place were the subject of his ire not the first to commit to the green and white in 2007. And he wouldn’t have been the target of the ambitious trade deal were he not first the focal point of the Timberwolves throughout his first 12 years in the NBA.
Allen wants to mend fences with Garnett because the Celtics deserve a reunion of their Doc Rivers-coached powerhouse in the late 2000s. Taylor is similarly keen on rekindling ties with him because he deserves to have his time with the Timberwolves celebrated as well. He doesn’t want to, though. He isn’t even anywhere near the zip code of acceptance. Which is just too bad. His stubbornness is his loss. Most importantly, it’s the fans’ loss. They would want nothing more than to honor him for his unparalleled selflessness on the court. Unfortunately, they’re being prevented by his selfishness off it.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
