For many NBA fans, Boston's run to the title last season wasn't just about watching the legendary Celtics return to the top of the basketball world. It was more about getting a chance to witness emote-icon Kevin Garnett complete his long journey to an NBA title. KG has long been respected by basketball faithful for being a player who leaves it all on the floor while wearing his heart on his sleeve, and his intense play during the Celtics' championship season only enhanced that reputation.
I was recently fortunate enough to get the chance to sit down with Garnett and talk to him straight-up about everything from what it's like to finally be a champion, to his thoughts on players who only show up during contract years. The candid interview took place over about 30 minutes in a back office of the NBA Store in New York. Hit the jump to read the full thing; and special thanks to NBA 2K9 for hooking me up with KG (who appears as the cover guy for the latest edition of the game).
The Atlanta Hawks' Josh Smith is a star-in-the-making. In his third year, the uber-athletic forward has come into his own, especially since the injury to Joe Johnson. There have also been some incidents of bad behavior--pulling a Michael Vick with the home fans earlier this season, and just this week, a suspension for cussing out authority figures. But if you're like me, you chalked these up to immaturity, and assumed they were no big deal.
Hold up, says Peter Vecsey. Today in the New York Post, Vecsey reminds us that "For three seasons I've written about Smith's vulgar disrespect for Woodson, his assistants and a teammate or two." And it gets worse. Like the time Smith, then under-age, was asked to leave a club when he tried to buy drinks:
"Josh kept threatening he was going home to get his gat and was coming back with his peeps," the source asserted. "Thank goodness Josh Childress was there. He kept calming down Smith and telling him to chill. Finally, he got him out of there before anything physical or worse happened."
Let's keep in mind, that Vecsey's been known to go on vendettas. And even if this is worse than mere childishness, Smith wouldn't be the first player to go through some growing pains. But with the Hawks facing some tough choices in the near-future about their armada of small forwards, this might be worth keeping in mind. On talent alone, Smith is probably top twenty in the entire league. If he's this much of an ass and will come with a huge price tag, though, wouldn't the Hawks be better served by going with character guys Marvin Williams and Josh Childress? It's not like they're slouches on the court, either.
Quick, what's the oldest joke in recent NBA history not about Kobe?
If you've spent a lot of time on the internet, you've probably heard some version of "everyone on the Hawks is 6 feet, 8 inches," or "the Hawks only understand one position." Well, Sekou K. Smith is here to tell you those days are numbered. From his HawksBlog:
The Hawks will have some tough choices to make over the next three years. [Josh] Smith and Josh Childress are eligible for extensions this summer. Marvin Williams is eligible next summer. Conventional wisdom says you can't keep them all. Not with Joe Johnson eating up minutes at the same positions as at least two of those guys.
And you thought getting rid of Al Harrington would have solved this problem. Anyway, Smith breaks down each player and sees mostly pros in all of them. Josh Smith is turning into something scary, Childress is the poor man's Josh Howard (who is the poor man's Shawn Marion), and Marvin Williams could be better than either of them. Common sense says you stick with the two studs, but there's something to be said for Childress's valuable support.
Well, this news is definitely not "big" or "sexy" or "important whatsoever," but it is something, and that's what I was asking for, right? Via ESPN.com, our first trade of the day! (Um, if you can call it that.)
The Atlanta Hawks acquired guard Anthony Johnson from the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday in exchange for the Hawks' 2007 second-round draft pick.
"We're happy to be able to bring Anthony Johnson back to Atlanta," Hawks general manager Billy Knight said in a statement. "He provides us with another veteran presence, and brings a great deal of regular season and postseason experience to our club."
Yes, hilariously enough, this will be Johnson's third stint with the Hawks. He signed with the team as a free agent in January 1999, and again in August 2000, but was traded away on both occasions.
And while Johnson's proven to be a solid guard and teammate over the years, something tells me he won't be bringing that certain "fire" to the Hawks that Sekou Smith claims they so desperately need. (AJC link via TrueHoop)
A quick look back at Wednesday night in The Association ...
He Ages Backwards, You Know. The Spurs Manu Ginobili scored 24 consecutive San Antonio points during a first half 10-minute span in a 103-96 win over the Hawks. Ginobili finished with a season-high 40 points, which was enough to even excite himself: "I've had some good stretches in my career. Today was kind of impressive. In those three or four minutes, or however many they were, maybe, yeah, it was some of the best." Ha-ha. I love how he slyly drops a "10-minute span" to four, three -- oh, gee, I don't know -- I think it was like, 30 seconds.
Oh, Just Buck Off. Michael Redd remained returned for Milwaukee and scored 38 points, but it wasn't enough to prevent Indiana from winning in double overtime, 136-129. It was another tough loss for the Bucks, seeing they twice fought back from five and four-point deficits to extend the game. Jermaine O'Neal led the Pacers with 29 points and 15 rebounds.
Whom Do You Love? Cavaliers' wild man Anderson Varejao had 16 points, 15 rebounds and a sick game-winning put-back slam over Chris Bosh to steal an 86-85 victory from the Raptors Wednesday night. Varejao was all over the place, finishing 8-for-9 from the field. And oh, Raps guard T.J. Ford blew two late possessions by dribbling out the clock like an idiot. Actually, scratch that. A fast idiot.
Paging Eddie Jones.As MJD pointed out early this morning, Dwyane Wade dislocated his left shoulder -- and Miami's championship dreams -- in a 112-102 loss to the Rockets last night. Rumor has it he could be out as long as six weeks. Miami is 1-6 without Wade this season.
Well, the Salt Lake Tribune reports that upon further review the league rescinded the Flagrant 2 foul initially assigned to Aaraujo, essentially downgrading the foul to a run-of-the-mill blocking infraction.
Seriously, how much would have paid to be in the same room as Holman when he learned the news? If David Stern really wants to appeal to middle America, he should just go the way of professional wrestling and put that sort of thing on camera.
At least, that's the gist you get from the commentator there. The audio and the video don't quite sync up (you hear Holman reacting to Araujo getting tossed long before you see it), but you get the gist of what's going on.
That's Rafael Araujo fouling Marvin Williams, and Hawks radio play-by-play guy Steve Holman reacting like he just witnessed the particularly bad scene in A Clockwork Orange.
At first glance, it doesn't look like much more than a hard, but perfectly reasonable foul ... but you don't get the perfect angle of it until about the :40 mark. There you see Araujo come across the lane, make body contact like a frieght train, and also put his elbow up into Williams' face. That's illegal.
At that point, the rage of Holman becomes a little more understandable. Still slightly insane, but understandable, nonetheless.
And pay special attention at the 1:30 mark, where Hawks coach Mike Woodson has a special Valentine's Day message for you.
Sarcastic, annoying voice in three, two, one . . . I'm telling you, man, at this rate Jerome James will be the East's starting point guard by Sunday afternoon! Hiyo! Yuck, yuck, yuck . . . and end voice.
Can't say I have any qualms with Stern's (hopefully) final pick. It was either "The Armadillo Cowboy" or Bucks' injured gunner Michael Redd, and well . . . the last thing we need is to have to start picking replacements for the replacements.
The Armadillo Cowboy -- yes, I'm gonna keep hammering this nickname home -- is averaging 25.1 points, 4.3 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game this season. He is the fifth -- fifth! -- replacement player named this week. He joins Ray Allen, Carmelo Anthony, Josh Howard and Mehmet Okur as Las Vegas' ol' sloppy seconds.
The Atlanta Hawks' Josh Smith is a star-in-the-making. In his third year, the uber-athletic forward has come into his own, especially since the 
Quick, what's the oldest joke in recent NBA history not about Kobe?
Well, this news is definitely not "big" or "sexy" or "important whatsoever," but it is something, and 
A quick look back at Wednesday night in The Association ...
Sarcastic, annoying voice in three, two, one . . . I'm telling you, man, at this rate Jerome James will be the East's starting point guard by Sunday afternoon! Hiyo! Yuck, yuck, yuck . . . and end voice. 
