Kevin Garnett Names His Top 3 Trash-Talkers of All Time
Kevin Garnett has been barking at NBA opponents for nearly two decades, so he's something of an authority on hardwood chatter. When he offers up his thoughts on the mouthiest opponents he's ever played against, we should probably listen.
Per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com, KG first named two players who seem to come up whenever historically great smack-talkers are the topic of discussion:
"Gary Payton and Michael Jordan, by far," Garnett told Youngmisuk.
No surprise there. Payton's career featured a nonstop string of snarling, psyche-crushing verbosity. He backed up his words with action, too; there weren't many defenders capable of clamping down like The Glove. Basically, Payton told you how terrible you were, then made you feel even worse with his suffocating D.
Jordan, of course, was also a ruthless talker—probably because he had the unmatched ability to (in his own mind) contort even the least threatening opponents into challengers who needed vanquishing.
Again, not a shock on either count.
Then, KG tossed out an unexpected name: "And believe it or not, Hakeem Olajuwon."
Know what's more fun than remembering Olajuwon befuddling defenders with an endless array of spins, pivots, fakes, shakes and bakes? The thought of him doing all of that while letting his man know how bad he was about to make him look.
Perhaps the best part of Garnett's thoughts on trash talk were his final ones, in which he denied his own place among the all-time greats: "Me? You just hear stories about me talking trash. You never have living proof that I talk trash."
Oh, really, KG? How about this?
And this:
And this:
And this:
Garnett is currently averaging 7.3 points and 8.3 rebounds for the Brooklyn Nets, both mild upticks from the numbers he posted a year ago. Brooklyn is just 5-8 on the season and faces a rough upcoming seven-game slate that includes the Chicago Bulls (twice), the San Antonio Spurs and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Nets would prefer some vintage play from KG during that stretch, but that's probably hoping for a bit too much. At least we know Garnett is still capable of talking a good game.
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