Kevin Garnett Borrowed Lance Stephenson’s Technique And Blew In A Guy’s Ear During A Game Last Night

Someday Kevin Garnett is going to be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame. He’ll get there for his defense and because he’s been one of the league’s most dominant big men for the better part of two decades, but Garnett is already a Hall of Fame trash talker with a plaque right next to Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Reggie Miller.

Garnett’s reputation for winding up his opponents is so great that he was actually voted the league’s best trash talker in a 2010 player poll conducted by Sports Illustrated and in 2013, FOX Sports named him as one of the top 10 trash talkers of all-time. Even Kobe Bryant heaped praise of the Brooklyn Nets big man, naming him as one of the best trash talkers that he’s played against. So to put it mildly, Kevin Garnett can talk some sh*t and he likes to try and throw opposing players off their game.

And as you can see in the above video, even at 38, Garnett’s still got it as he absolutely psyches out David West and draws a technical foul when the Pacers’ big man shoves him. This happens because Garnett blew in West’s ear, but that’s what makes this latest gambit kind of depressing.

To put this in purely Seinfeld-ian terms, Garnett pulled a David Puddy. The “ear blow” is Lance Stephenson’s move.

That’s not to say that Stephenson created it. I’m sure that there have been other NBA players who have tried the ear blow trick over the years, maybe even Garnett, but it was popularized by Stephenson when he tried to literally and metaphorically get into LeBron James’ head during the playoffs last season. So basically, it’s his now, and that means that Garnett’s antics feel like the equivalent of an old rockstar singing a cover of a current pop song to stay relevant.

What’s worse, according to West, Garnett’s technique was lacking.

— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) December 28, 2014

Unoriginal and lacking in sensuality? Damn, K-G, I think it’s safe to say that we all expected more from you.

(Source: SB Nation)

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