The NBA is not short on trash-talkers. From Kevin Durant to Draymond Green to Kobe Bryant, there are plenty of players who won’t hesitate to rub verbal salt in the wound they’re inflicting on a defender’s pride. But one player stands taller above the rest when it comes to jawing: Kevin Garnett.
Just as KG’s legs never stop churning and his arms never stop flailing, his mouth likewise never stops running. This is partly because of Garnett’s constant communication on defense, calling out plays or telling his guard if the screen is coming from the right or left. But when he’s not talking to his team, he’s either talking to himself or to his opponent. It’s not so much a verbal sparring match as it is a non-stop barrage of words – some of which Chicago Bulls rookie Bobby Portis can’t even repeat.
Bobby Portis is fully initiated into the NBA: Kevin Garnett was verbally giving him the business over the weekend. "Words I can't repeat."
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) October 13, 2015
Portis on KG: "He didn't say nothing about no Honey Nut Cheerios. He (said), "Grown man business right here, boy. I'm 40 and you're 20."
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) October 13, 2015
This is not the first time players have spoken with a weird mixture of reverence and revulsion about Garnett’s smack talk. The content of his banter ranges from repugnant to flat-out weird. Steven Adams perhaps put it best when he said that Garnett makes “You question, like, why you are playing basketball and stuff. You’re like ‘Why am I doing this?’ It’s really weird, you get depressed.”
Portis found that out for himself when the Bulls played the Timberwolves in preseason action Tuesday night. Luckily for him, he’ll only have to face KG two more times this year. Any further exposure to Garnett’s bizarre mind might be enough to drive a rookie mad, but still probably not as insane as Garnett.
