Kevin Garnett Talks About The Time Flip Saunders Made Him Play Point Guard In The Conference Finals

Kevin Garnett Talked Playing Point Guard In The Conference Finals

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NBA legend Kevin Garnett will be joining Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Eddie Sutton, Rudy Tomjanovich, Tamika Catchings, Kim Mulkey, Barbara Stevens, and Patrick Baumann as the newest inductees in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on August 29, 2020 (hopefully).

Garnett, who entered the NBA straight out of high school – the first player drafted directly out of high school in 20 years – played for an astounding 21 seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, and Brooklyn Nets.

For 10 of those seasons, Garnett played under popular head coach Flip Saunders in Minnesota. In 2004, the Timberwolves had their best season in franchise history when they won the Midwest Division and reached the Western Conference Finals versus the Lakers with Kobe, Shaq, Karl Malone and Gary Payton on the roster.

Unfortunately, their point guard Sam Cassell got injured in the playoffs, forcing Saunders to try some very unconventional tactics, including having the 6-foot-11 Garnett take over at point guard for most of the series versus Los Angeles.

When asked recently how it felt to play the point during the 2004 Western Conference Finals by Shams Charania of The Athletic, Garnett’s response was classic.

“From the fan’s perspective, sitting there watching it, it’s dope,” Garnett revealed. “But from having to sit there, be in it and have to play, it was the fucking worst. I grew a crazy amount (of respect) — I already had a crazy amount of respect for all of the positions in sports, period — but the point guard position might be the hardest from a consolidation aspect. You don’t understand. The quarterback has to lead everybody, he has to get everybody the plays and make sure everybody is in the right places. Then you got to get to your spots while somebody is hounding you. It was just too much. Not that I couldn’t do anything on the court, but man, as far as preference I would have never played it. Ever.

“I was so fucking hot when Flip told me I had to play point guard. It ain’t too much shit I’ve been pissed about when it came to basketball. I was pissed about that. Like, ahh. I gotta bring the ball up, pass it, give it to myself, and da da. It was just a lot, but it was something that pushed me. I’ll never forget that, playing point guard.”

Related: Kevin Garnett Tried To Trash Talk Michael Jordan Once And It Ended Very, Very Badly For Him

“You may have trended on social media for a full day if you played point guard for most of a game in today’s game,” replied Charania.

“Ain’t that right!” Garnett answered with a laugh. “A lot of people didn’t know: I had a one-on-one that I never really got to show. Face-ups, like ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh. I had a bit of handle that’ll get me from A to B, and I was … man. People that play the game know that one-dribble, two-dribble pull-ups are very difficult moves to do at 6-11 and do at tall statures. Those moves are built for more smaller, athletic guys. The step-backs, the crossovers, all of that. I had a one-on-one game that I never really got to display other than when I played in the summer or when I played on Team USA. But for the most part, I’ve always wanted to be a team guy and be within the team. People may be so shocked to see my one-on-one stuff, but my own personal crew know that I had other parts that I never displayed during the year.”

In addition to entering the Basketball Hall of Fame this year, the Boston Celtics recently announced they would be retiring Garnett’s number during the 2020-21 season – something that the Timberwolves have inexplicably never done – and something Garnett has no interest in ever happening after a big fallout he had with team owner Glen Glen Taylor during his second stint with the franchise.

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Before settling down at BroBible, Douglas Charles, a graduate of the University of Iowa (Go Hawks), owned and operated a wide assortment of websites. He is also one of the few White Sox fans out there and thinks Michael Jordan is, hands down, the GOAT.