Kevin Garnett: Is He a Big Bad Bully or Just a Trash-Talking Teddy Bear?
Kevin Garnett has earned quite the reputation among NBA coaches, players and fans.
To some, he's one of basketball's best trash-talkers, a guy whose intensity is nearly unparalleled in the sport.
But to others, Garnett is like the prototypical schoolyard bully, someone who picks on others for nothing more than sheer entertainment.
And recently, Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah, who idolized Garnett while growing up, said he isn't a Garnett fan anymore.
"He's a very mean guy," Noah told an ESPN Radio station. "Where's the love? None at all. Ugly, too."
Still, for every person like Noah, there's another who ardently supports the way Garnett conducts himself on the court.
So which is it: Is Garnett a big bad bully or a misunderstood trash-talking teddy bear?
Let's debate!
5. Bully: Woof, Woof
1 of 11Check out the video of Kevin Garnett barking like a dog on all fours at Portland Trail Blazers guard Jerryd Bayless.
This ridiculous confrontation generally arouses only two responses: laughter or "Did he really just do that?"
Well, Garnett's taunt still continues to blow my mind.
I mean, what the hell was that all about? You're on your knees barking at a 6'3" guard as a means of intimidation?
If anything, you just took about six steps up the douchebag meter, and proved that you tend to take trash-talking a bit too far.
5. Teddy Bear: He's Different Off the Court
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There are plenty of professional athletes whose mannerisms and demeanor on the court/field are leaps and bounds different when they're off it.
They're Dr. Jekyll sometimes and Mr. Hyde at others.
And though Kevin Garnett's character during the game has been called into question, his personality away from it has rarely been challenged.
By most accounts, Garnett is not a bad person.
So it may be that his in-game persona is like a professional wrestling gimmick: turned on before showtime and ended once the lights go out.
4. Bully: A Bigger Trash-Talker in Boston
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One of the things I find odd about Kevin Garnett's trash-talking is that it only became a big problem when he joined the Boston Celtics.
It's easy to blabber on and on about how you can't be stopped or how good your team is when you have Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen playing alongside you.
But I didn't see Garnett parading around the court like that when he was a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Coincidence? I think not.
4. Teddy Bear: The Intensity Double Standard
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Intensity is a huge part of every sport. Without it, there'd be no reason to watch a bunch of 6'10" guys trying to throw a ball into an orange hoop.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a guy with more passion and competitive desire on the court than Kevin Garnett.
You can see it on his face. He wants to win, but Garnett's ferocity during NBA games is often confused for disrespect and incivility, whereas other guys who show the same amount of intensity on the court often avoid the same criticisms.
It's a double standard to say Garnett is too harsh in his trash-talking, but someone like Kobe Bryant or Amar'e Stoudemire isn't.
3. Bully: Attacking Foreign Players
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One of Joakim Noah's recent claims was that Kevin Garnett targets foreign players, and that actually has some backing to it.
Garnett has had run-ins with Jose Calderon, Andrew Bogut, Zaza Pachulia and Marco Belinelli, among other international players.
He's verbally and physically attacked these guys mainly because they enter the league with reputations for being "soft" or "weak."
That's just like picking on the guy in fourth grade because he wears glasses, braces and a pocket protector.
3. Teddy Bear: The Other Players Are Soft
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Kevin Garnett sure seems to elicit a ton of responses from his fellow NBA players.
Charlie Villanueva challenged him to a fight, Joakim Noah took Garnett's poster off his bedroom wall and Glen "Big Baby" Davis broke down in tears.
But is Garnett the problem here or is it the players themselves?
After all, there's no crying in sports, and I'd argue that these guys need to man up a little bit.
This is the NBA, not a place to get in touch with your emotions.
2. Bully: Garnett Is Always Around
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Think about this: When's the last time you heard someone like Dwight Howard or Kevin Durant referred to as a dirty player?
Thinking...thinking...still thinking.
It's because no one in the NBA has had their character attacked more than Kevin Garnett, which has a lot more to do with his motormouth than his play on the court.
The fact remains that Garnett's name is brought up in the news for trash-talking incidents more than any player in the league, and you eventually have to think there's a reason for that.
It's because of Garnett.
2. Teddy Bear: It's Part of the Game
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Like technical fouls and crappy officiating, trash-talking is something that everyone in the NBA has to deal with.
Aside from the few players whose vocal intensity is equivalent to that of a church mouse, pretty much every guy in the league runs his mouth on the court.
Kevin Garnett may do it a heck of a lot more often than others, but trash-talking has always been and will always be just a part of the game.
1. Bully: The Charlie Villanueva Incident
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Earlier this season, Detroit Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva posted an angry tweet claiming that Kevin Garnett called him a "cancer patient" during a game.
Garnett later claimed that he actually called Villanueva a "cancer" to his team, so this one's still a bit unclear.
But if Garnett truly referred to Villanueva—who suffers from an autoimmune skin disease that prevents him from growing hair—as a cancer patient, that is certainly a cold, despicable act.
The struggle that cancer patients endure is incredibly tough, and Garnett's alleged actions are not only uncalled for but are the acts of a disgraceful human being.
1. Teddy Bear: The Best Players Do It
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Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Reggie Miller and Kevin Garnett all have one obvious thing in common: They're great basketball players.
They're also four of the biggest trash-talkers in NBA history.
These guys talked more crap on the basketball court than just about anyone, yet no one thought there was anything malicious behind it like we tend to do with Garnett.
I don't exactly see someone like Miller as the schoolyard bully type.
With all due respect to Miller, I probably would have put my money on Spike Lee in that fight.
Bully or Teddy Bear: What's the Verdict?
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I'll come right out and say that I never have been and never will be a fan of Kevin Garnett, and I don't like the way he constantly curses like a sailor on national television.
But some of the issues people see with his character are not things we haven't seen in the past.
Joakim Noah had his heart broken by his childhood hero, Charlie Villanueva was breaking an unspoken rule in sports and the game's greatest players were doing the same thing that Garnett's doing long before he ever did it.
To say that Garnett is a bully would force me to examine every athlete and determine whether an insulting remark in the heat of the moment defines his or her character.
I just can't do that.
The Verdict: Teddy Bear
