OVER the past few months, as it became increasingly evident the Timberwolves’ imperfections were more than skin deep, numerous teams called to inquire about Kevin Garnett’s availability.
All were told the same thing: We’re not even going to discuss it at this time.
That suited Garnett just fine. In a recent public statement, he maintained his loyalty to the only NBA franchise he’s ever carried (11th season, longest continuous service of any player in the wake of Reggie Miller’s retirement) since transferring from high school to the pros, and resolved to remain a Wolf man for a life.
A noble stance considering his team’s reduction in rank from perennial playoff participant (eliminated in the ’03-04 Western Conference finals) to lottery level last season. Currently, the T’wolves are 19-21, tied with Golden State for ninth in the West.
Then again, that was before Sunday afternoon’s postgame tongue-lashing by Kevin McHale. According to a source who got it straight from a Minnesota player, the Celtics’ Hall of Famer and T’wolves VP of basketball operations barged into rookie coach Dwane Casey’s locker room and barbecued the whole bunch for Heimliching
a 19-point, late-third-quarter lead on national TV to the 76ers.
“McHale was real mad,” said the hearing aide. “He jumped on the team for not finishing strong, for not being aggressive and for playing scared. He accused the team of playing not-to-lose instead of playing to win.”
The wallop of McHale’s expletive-deleted tirade was reserved for Garnett, at least that’s the feeling he got. So he responded correspondingly. Already frazzled and frustrated by the ghastly loss and 13-point output on 5-for-15 inaccuracy (his lowest since New Year’s night in Miami) and dismal production in the fourth quadrant, the last straw was a scolding.
“I ain’t [bleeping] playin’ scared,” Garnett stormed. “I ain’t [bleeping] playin’ to lose. I ain’t [bleeping] puttin’ my head down. I’m [bleeping] tryin’ as hard as I can every night.”
Earlier this season, Garnett called out McHale on TNT for doing a poor reconstruction job of the roster – trading
Sam Cassell to my Paper Clips for Marko Jaric really bugged him out. This time, Garnett reputedly called him out in front of the team, telling him coarsely what course of action he could take right then and there.
A T’wolves source denies this happened, or at least didn’t hear it himself. He also denies that Garnett subsequently put an exclamation point on his defiance. The soul of his disputed message: “If you don’t like how I’m playing, get me the [bleep] out of here, trade my [bleep].”
Emotional outbursts among teammates and coaches (not so much management) are commonplace behind closed doors in sports. For the most part, it’s strictly temporary insanity. Not surprisingly, Garnett left the Off-Target Center that evening without talking to the media, an uncommon occurrence.
Yet team tension and futility have persisted. The T’wolves have lost two in a row since, a miserable 24-point defeat in Minnesota to the Flip Saunders-coached Pistons and a 20-point wipeout in Memphis.
Knowing something had to be done to stop the bleeding, McHale shook things up last night by swapping Wally Szczerbiak, Michael Olowokandi and a No. 1 pick for long-coveted Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, Marcus Banks and Justin Reed.
This just in: The ghost of Hubert Humphrey slunk into the T’Wolves’ executive offices and lambasted McHale for
dragging his pivot feet on Vietnam.
Influx of fresh talent aside, if things don’t improve noticeably by the time the Feb. 23 trading deadline rolls around, Garnett may very well be next to go. My father always said I was no ordinary idiot. While that’s debatable, it seems to me, despite averaging 22.2 points (16th overall) and 11.5 rebounds (fifth), K.G. is not good enough in the heart of the matter to salvage McHale’s sloping Navy.
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In a week where the league should have been celebrating the second-greatest single-game performance in its history, Bryant Park winds up with the shelf life of left-out Limburger.
While Matt Winick, the little old schedule-maker, did his best to allow Kobe Bryant and the league to bask in his basket full of (81) points – the Lakers don’t play again until tonight against the Warriors – other forces were at work holding down the hype.
First was the rerouting of Rorschach Artest, whose mood swings have worn out many a mood ring. After a couple days of hiding behind the inexperience and incompetence of his newest agent, Mark Stevens, who did his damnedest to sabotage a trade to the Kings for Peja Stojakovic, he finally consented.
However, before the Brothers Maloof and Brothers Grimm agreed ,they demanded a personal pow-wow with Artest. How much would you pay for a printed transcript?
By my count, Artest became the first player in NBA history obliged to take a mental (I’m unsure he has to pass it) before joining a new team.