KG “Tanked It” Last Year
Photo. LandWait … WHAT? Blasphemy! Kevin Garnett? The guy who is the embodiment of leaving it all on the floor every single night “tanked it” last year in Minnesota?? So says T-Wolves‘ owner Glen Taylor in the Pioneer Press:
The Minnesota Timberwolves have been criticized in recent seasons for tanking down the stretch to try to improve their draft position. But owner Glen Taylor strongly disagrees, especially with what happened at the end of last season.
“It was more like, I’d say, K.G. tanked it,” Taylor said today.
Kevin Garnett took himself out of the lineup late last season, Taylor said. Garnett missed the last five games with what was said to be a sore right quadriceps.
“I think the other guys still wanted to play, but it sure changed the team and didn’t make us as (good),” Taylor said.
What do you guys think? Can you see KG sitting out even if he wasn’t really hurt? And even if he wasn’t hurt, do you blame him? How is this different than what Dwyane Wade is doing right now?
March 18th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Daily boy says:
Who cares, the T-wolves are hating cause KG’s on the verge of winning it all & it’s his first year out of that dump.
March 18th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Logan Light says:
Never. KG is a warrior on the court. Everything that we know about him is that he plays for the love of the game. I’m sure that if his team was in playoff picture/had championship opportunities he would have played through it ala Shaq’s miraculous healing in the desert. KG doesn’t give up games… I wouldn’t believe it if it came from his own mouth.
March 18th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Azad says:
I’d like to say that this is a classless move by Glen Taylor-
KG gave his heart and soul to that team and the guy played on bad teams the last three years and poured his heart into it, and for him to come out and talk badly about KG after he’s been traded and has had a lot of success just shows jealousy and anger that they couldn’t make it work there-
Taylor and McHale, combined, were one of the most incompetent front offices in the NBA-
A few highlights:
1) Trading Cassell for Marko Jaric
2) offering to give Latrell Sprewell a 3 year extension when he was 34 for 7 million a year, when Latrell thankfully decided to go “feed his family” instead
3) under the table agreement with Joe Smith that was 10+ million a year for a highly mediocre player and got them 4 or 5 draft picks lost
4) drafting Ndubi Ebi in 2003 in front of Leandro Barbosa and Josh Howard…
So, Glen Taylor, go away, watch your team finish 20-60, and watch KG win a ring
March 18th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Celts Fan says:
that’s dead on Logan.
To quote Bill Walton, “What (Glen Taylor) says is an insult to people who think.”
March 18th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
What is this!? says:
If he did, then he did…if he didn’t, then he didn’t. Oh well. They wasted a lot of K.G’s time as well. I don’t know why those people expect for those players to show up everynight with minimal help. Reminds me of the situation with Allen Iverson in Philly. Both KG and AI are extremely loyal. That is a great trait to have, but I also think they were too loyal and should have been left those Franchises. Those people expect for those players to kill themselves everynight, carring a team on their back everynight and then have the nerve to turn around and complain? Give me a break.
Sh*t, Iverson gave so much to the Sixers and although he had his moments, I think he put up with more BS from that organization then they did from him. During Iversons departure all that organization did was disrespect and throw him under the bus…If KG did tank the end of the season, I wouldn’t blame him…nor would I lose any respect for the guy.
March 18th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Celts Fan says:
hell ya what is this, plus, I’m SURE those guys would both be where they started out had their GMs been even sort of competant. They both had the primes of their careers, and therefore, their reputations, chances at a title, and eventually, their legacies tarnished by these idiots.
March 18th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
BlazeMcHerbs says:
Taylor should of kept his stupid mouth shut. What does he think, KG cant roast him and McHale foolishness’ over the years?
Its been a long time since a player could completely son an organization and the media would agree, I think Taylor is lucky he’s fucking with a “good guy”, I would love to hear what KG really thought about the “genius” moves the T’Wolves management are responsible for
March 18th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Captain America says:
Taylor is right, KG wanted to sit out the final games. Oh, I know this will burst some of your bubbles, but let’s turn the
March 18th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
why would anyone believe anything that comes out of minny’s front office? them stooges dont know what they hell they doing or talking about
kg would ball like crazy at the local rec center
i love kg, but you cant be mad at taylor kg. getta get out of the 1st round more than once in 12yrs to avoid the owner spitting venom
March 18th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Captain America says:
But let’s turn the question around: Do you think that if KG wanted to play the final games last year that anyone would have stopped him? The obvious answer is hell no!
Do I blame KG entirely for deciding the ride out the final games? No, I don’t. The team was out of contention and KG has logged much time during his Wolves career. In fact, this was the only time (he sat out the final games of the previous year too) that he opted to sit out. Aside for that, KG played hurt plenty of times.
March 18th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Lady Luck says:
You would think those last five games cost them a playoff spot….it’s FIVE GAMES for crying out loud. How does anyone in the Minnesota office even fix their lips to say anything bad about their franchise player who laid it all on the line for them year after year game after game, most years on a horrible team? That is just ridiculous. I hope Taylor enjoys the taste of his own toes…because he definitely has his foot in his mouth with those comments.
March 18th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
who allowed women to post on this board lol
if you paid kg $126 MILLION….wouldn’t you want him to play all the games too?
2nd highest paid player in the league (behind shaq) for all those yrs
and what did he actually do for them?…1 playoff advancement
so this is the question: did minny get their money worth of of garnett? and if not, doesn’t that earn them at least partial right to speak out?
i love kg as much as the next person, but call a spade a spade
March 18th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Captain America says:
The hero worship is amazing. Folks, KG doesn’t wear a halo nor horns. He is a hyper competitive athlete who works his butt off in games and, like many of us, gets sullen and moody when things are not going well.
As for Taylor, it’s important to take matters in context. Taylor was referencing the recent relative success the team is experiencing late in the season compared to the previous season. He was contrasting the losing season has year when the team had a completely different roster comprised mostly of veterans versus the current roster with young upstarts.
March 18th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Be Equal says:
This is BS all the way through… Minnesota had plenty of chances to improve KG’s supporting cast and they didn’t… so who’s really slacking here?
March 18th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Azad says:
yeah but did KG ever ask out? did he ever demand a trade? he always stayed loyal..look how Kobe behaved when things started going poorly, he went after his own teammates, he put a lot of attention and drama on himself-
KG sitting out was the best thing for the team the last two years because more wins meant crappier draft pick, and for a team nowhere near the playoffs, that’s what they needed-for a guy who is as durable as KG has been and for how many games he playes every year(up until this year), I feel like this is really unfair criticism
March 18th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
K Dizzle says:
Relative success of this season compared to last season?
What does that mean? They won 32 games last season. They’re at 15 this season with 16 left so check the stats.
This team is garbage because of the ownership and management, not because of KG. The Joe Smith fiasco is just the tip of the iceberg. No draft picks, no free agents and when they finally get a break and Brandon Roy falls into their laps, they trade him for Foye and cash. You think KG couldn’t use Roy and Cassell last season instead. Mchale’s lucky he ain’t in NYC or you’d be hearin “Fire Mchale” every single day. Taylor should have been callin Jerry West and offering him whatever he wanted instead of spittin venom on KG after he’s gone. Gutless and weak
March 18th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Nimit says:
Honest to god, who gives a damn? they tanked on him for 11 seasons, he tanked on the them for 5 games….you do the math
March 18th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
fallinup says:
All the above posts are spot on. How in the hell can you blame KG if he had tanked that whole last season, let alone 5 measley games…these comments from Taylor pretty much sums up in a nutshell that the T-Wolves will forever be cellar dwellers because of the inept ownership and management. Quite low if you ask me…Taylor should be ashamed.
March 18th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Marcus says:
AI, KG and Kobe, 3 players who played on teams that surrounded them with very little talent, 2 of those players laced em up every day in an effort to win games. Is it their fault that their front office was full of retards who know so little about basketball that the teams would be better off being run by a 12-year old.
March 18th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
BxBaller says:
Glen Taylor is a staright clown.
March 18th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Captain America says:
You’s guyz are lookin’ foolish. But it don’t matter, you’re opinions don’t matter. Talk to me when you own a franchise and can pay the coin.
But you may want to read the article before showing ignorance. If you had, you would realize:
1) “relative success” for this club is 4 of 6 games with a desire to win as many more as possible for the season;
2) the interest was in winning the remaining games last season (and prior year) but KG bowed out early. For it’s scarcity of talent of talent in seasons past, the only one mailing it in early was KG.
Whether it was justifiable for KG to do that is your call, but if you bought tickets to those games, well, t.s.
As for KG, and assuming you are grown up, get beyond hero worship. KG ain’t got no halo.
March 18th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Captain Hamerica says:
In reviewin my post #21, I realize that I make no sense and that a monkey could run a franchise better than Taylor and Mchale. For some reason,I find it easier to blame a 12 time all-star who’s going to the hall of fame who might have tanked 5 games in 12 years than the clowns who put these teams around him.
Once again, I apologize for wasting youse guys time
March 18th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
hotdog says:
blasphemy indeed. Stop drinking the hate juice Taylor
March 18th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
What is this!? says:
I remember seeing an interview with K.G a few years back during the All-Star games, this was the season after that Timberwolve team went to the Westen Conference finals. I remember him talking to Coach Johnson on TNT, so passionate and holding back tears untill he couldn’t hold them back no more, blaming himself for that F.O mistakes. Putting everything on himself. And I remember thinking, NOTHING is worth that.
YES, that FO paid K.G the big bucks… but you’d be a damn fool to say that he did not return the favor with the work he put in for that Franchise. I don’t care how much money someone is making, nothing is worth the constant ridicule and weight that is placed on some of those players in that league. Those guys are human, they are not machines, therefor they are physically enable to please EVERYONE at the same time. They do what they can with what they have. Thats it.
For people to expect for those players to go out and win games without the proper tools is flat out ridiculous. Thats just like you going to work and being asked to perform without the proper tools to do so. Think of it that way. Some of those organizations ride on those players backs like horses in a jockey race, wanting them to take them to the “motherland” with whatever they give them to work with. It doesn’t work that way. Don’t care that the players are killing themselves on the floor everynight just for the win, just as long as the tickets and merchandise keep selling right? Then the Owners and F.O gets bitter and mad when those players finally get tired and fed up of being road into the ground, and want to turn around and throw them under the bus. SMH, This needs repeating, if KG did blow those last 5 games, oh well…they blowed about 5 prime years of his career. Nuff said.
March 18th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Celts Fan says:
well said What Is This. All that any reasonable fan can ever expect and ask for from a guy is to go out and work hard. KG left it all on the floor every single night he played. It’s not like ownership surrounded him w/ talent. He STILL was saying he wanted to retire in Minnesota. HE felt betrayed when they were trying to trade him this past offseason. What else can you possibly ask for? Especially in Minnesota! It’s not like it was LA or NY or Miami where you can always draw free agents (assuming your team isn’t run by Isiah Thomas) but Minnefuckinsota? and of all 3 of the guys listed I think people would pretty much all agree he handled his situation the best. (KG, AI, and Kobe, all of them, you KNOW if they’re on the floor, regardless of how pissed they are at the organization, that they are going hard cuz that’s the only way they know how to play)
March 19th, 2008 at 1:47 am
todd says:
I don’t know where all this “he deserves better, he deserves a championship” crap is coming from. These ballplayers are being paid MILLIONS to play and give it their all.
March 19th, 2008 at 2:46 am
What is this!? says:
^^ Yeah “todd”… a lot of those players do get paid millions of dollars to give it their all, but not all of them do, KG seemed to be one of the few players that do. Which is what people are talking about.Those organizations also make millions of dollars off of having those players on the team, so therefor, just like those players have a responsibility….so do those organizations. Provide them with the proper personnel to succeed….otherwise they should shut up complaining and move on…K.G has.
I hear ya “Celts fan” and I agree that KG handled his diparture well. I also think that AI, given how he was treated on the way out, handled his departure very well (especially when he said he didn’t specifically ask for a trade, he said he was tired of losing and if they didn’t want to change their style of play so they can win then they might as well get rid of him because he doesn’t want to lose…thats different from just saying “trade me”). The whole time the Sixer organization had him sitting out awaiting a trade he could have went to the media and talked, but he didn’t. He just took it with a grain of salt and awaited the trade. Then spoke on the situation.
I remember Steven A. Smith going completely bananas on that 76er organization on live t.v for how unprofessional they were. The owner of the franchise saying on live t.v that AI asked for a trade before even talking to Iverson personaly? He did that on purpose, threw Iverson under the bus. And I remember them saying they cleaned out AI’s locker, removed his name plate and took off his images from the Sixers jumbotron the day after they sent him home…as if he hasn’t been the face of that franchise and the only reason the Sixers were even spoken of the last 10 years. I don’t care if people like the person Iverson is or not…thats f*cked up, period.
Even when Iverson goes back to Philly tonight, the owner said that they don’t have any special tribute for Iverson….yet the owner had a special tribute for a player from the Hockey team he also owns, when the guy came back and was only with that Hockey team for 3 years! Yeah, Sports Illistrated put them on blast. Thats what i’m talking about, just ungreatful and disrespectful. So, no, I don’t feel those types of players owe those organizations anything, especially when they have given so much of themselves. 10 years is a long time to put up with BS. Iverson isn’t a saint…i’m sure K.G isn’t either, but its like show some respect though. You know what i’m saying? SMH….but Kobe just handled his sh*t all wrong though. LOL! I’m sorry, you have to draw the line and Kobe was too much this past summer, he only had that team for three years and was already crying “trade me”. As great as a player Kobe has been…he just fails at life. LOL!!
March 19th, 2008 at 4:41 am
Suciniac says:
FIVE FREAKING GAMES!!!!!! I will break it down into points so you haters can understand the situation.
1.KG never ever demanded a trade.Compare that to the early season Kobe drama,Pau ,Kidd,Marion wanting and did get out.Even to the likes of Damon Jones,Marko Jaric,Antoine Walker and countless other losers who should be just glad they are making multi-millions than wanting to go to a contender(like they could contribute)and KG indeed has an invisible halo.
2.The best teammate Taylor could get for KG in his prime was Wally Szcerbiak.Having Spree and Cassell for 1 and half seasons doesn’t count besides they did went to the Finals when KG had both.It’s only because of KG that they even made the playoffs.You take away Pop,Manu,Parker,Horry from TD and give him Kandi man,Troy Hudson,Wally world and see how the Spurs make it past the 1st round (if they make the playoffs that is).
3.KG gave his heart,soul and body to the organization and this is how they repay him.FREAKING FIVE GAMES?????? especially when the team was out of playoff contention and the season was about to end.
4.Compare KG’s five games to the half season vacation Shaq has been taking since the last 4-5 years,Boozer missing nearly 2 season’s for a “Hamstring injury” and now Wade shutting it down for the year and it’s not worth even mentioning.
5.Lastly had KG played and won those last 5 games it wouldn’t have changed anything.They still would have missed the playoffs,they were still going to stink as a team.If anything KG did the Wolves a favor (if he did tank the games) by ensuring they got a lottery pick.
6.This is just a classic “blame the others for your faults case” better known as the Isiah syndrome.On a strength of five meaningless game and one fucking sentence,Taylor placed a 10+ years of incompetence as a GM on KG’s shoulder.Yeah, way to go Glenn,those 5 games were the sole reason you couldn’t find someone better than Wally World for KG.Those 5 games cost you a 2nd round playoff berth all those years.Those 5 games cost you to 2 yrs without a playoff berth.GET FUCKING REAL!!!!!!
March 19th, 2008 at 5:30 am
word says:
oh fuck that how many god damn loyal years has kg given that piece of shit worthless team? he should’ve demanded a trade around the same time Sprewell left. These dudes are mad disrespectful and hating, plus putting blame on an all star who was the only reason fans even paid to go to games over there. they made tonns of dough off him ungrateful fucks.