Kevin Garnett is the biggest trash talker in the NBA; that fact is no secret. It’s also no mystery that Garnett has been known to pick on the little guys. Not the Shaq’s or the Tim Duncan’s of the league rather the less well know players such as Jose Calderon, Pau Gasol (when he first entered the league), and Jerryd Bayless. It’s both disappointing and disturbing that a man of KG’s stature would stoop so low as to crush the hopes of these young guys who probably idolized Garnett throughout their basketball careers…until they met the dark side of Kevin Garnett’s psyche.
Plenty of players (like everyone) talks trash on the court; it’s just a side effect of being in a hyper competitive environment. Things happen; people say things they really wish they didn’t in the heat of the moment. Anyone who has taken part in some competitive activity or event knows exactly what I’m talking about, and for a guy that is as hyper competitive as KG it must be about 1,238 times harder to control those tendencies. Just look at the guy as he warms up: pounding his chest, ramming his head against hard objects, screaming at no one in particular…he’s certifiably insane, but in terms of basketball, in a good way. He channels his boundless energy into suffocating defense, rebounding, and otherwise running around the court like someone snuck Ritalin into his Gatorade.
But on November third it was reported that Garnett called Piston’s forward Charlie Villanueva a “cancer patient” because of the lack of hair anywhere on his body, which is actually due to a disease Villanueva has called Alopecia. It is not life threatening but it causes the afore mentioned symptom of lack of hair. Calling Charlie a “cancer patient” would seem to break a basic human-to-human code that goes beyond basketball. Thousands of men and woman die to cancer every year, and making fun of someone because they resemble a cancer patient is both uncouth and appalling…the kind of joke someone makes where everyone stands around awkwardly and then walks away.
This most recent incident not only cements Kevin Garnett’s reputation as the biggest trash talker in the league but it is another instance in a long line of bullying examples. Anyone remember the strange incident when Kevin Garnett went down on all fours and barked at Jerryd Bayless like a dog, or what about when he clapped in Jose Calderon’s face? Just type in “Kevin Garnett bully”, or “Kevin Garnett fight” in YouTube and you will get even more examples.
Now I’m going to go off the beaten a path a bit. In no way am I condoning what Kevin Garnett (according to Villanueva) said but he’s not alone in calling other athletes offensive names. There is rampant use of the “N” word in the NBA (one example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6KyUcm8qwU) and it isn’t hard to imagine that players say much worse things to each other that never come to the public’s attention because an athlete decided to tweet the insult. I’m not ready to assume yet that Charlie Villanueva was completely innocent either. We’ve yet to hear another side of the story; what if Charlie said something equally offensive to Garnett or what if they have some history between each other that we don’t know about? Although Kevin’s comments were uncouth, offensive, and a little bit disturbing let’s not automatically peg him as a malicious villain because he called a rival athlete a name. I have a hunch that stuff like this happens all the time yet most athletes don’t feel the need to tell the world that they were called something by a rival player.
Bottom line: As a respectful human being you can’t call someone a “cancer patient”. To many good people have died from the horrific disease and it lies in the can’t-make-jokes-about-or-use-as-an-insult camp; it’s just such a sensitive and sorrowful topic that hits way to close to home for many people. This most recent incident only reinforces what we already know about KG and his abrasive, sometimes cruel personality. He’s got a competitive disorder which often leads to outlandish actions and offensive insults...and this time he crossed the line. But Charlie, next time…leave it on the court.
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