Beyonce Unknowingly Helped Kevin Garnett Get Into Shape And Communicate More On The Court

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Kevin Garnett seems to be enjoying retirement. He’s killing it on TNT with his segment of Inside The NBA, Area 21, and he drops in on random teams here and there helping out the big guys with random KG knowledge. One of the teams he helps out is the Clippers, so much so that last month they gave him a job as a special consultant with the organization. So when noted Celtics homer and KG fanboy Bill Simmons got a Clipper to come on his podcast, it was only right he asked about Garnett, and he got a doozy of an anecdote in return from J.J. Redick.

Earlier in the podcast, Redick had already revealed that Garnett suggested to him that he host younger players in the offseason and teach them the tricks of his trade — for a premium — to bring in some extra cash. Now, Simmons asked if Garnett actually works with the team, to which Redick said yes, and told one particular story about Garnett in the weight room with him during a recent road trip. Apparently Garnett, a master of stamina and one of the biggest talkers of his era on the court, owes all of that to Beyonce. Yes, Queen Bey is now bleeding into the NBA and creating Hall of Famers out of high schoolers.

He’s also told me, “How do you think Beyonce is in such great shape?” and I’m like “Uh, I don’t know.” He’s like “One time I saw her working out, and she was doing her dances and she was singing while she was doing her dancing. So then I’m thinking to myself, maybe I should run and sing at the same time. So in the offseason, I would go to Malibu and I would go down to the beach, and when I run on the beach I would be like ‘Lalala lalala lalala,’ while I’m running. So then, when I get on the court and I’m getting back on defense and I’m talking on defense, I don’t get tired.” And I was like “Okay, maybe there’s something there.”

Garnett is clearly a huge fan of female singers, as it’s rumored that he nearly missed signing his record $127 million extension with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1997 because he was being given a private preview of Janet Jackson’s new The Velvet Rope album. The guy had one hundred and twenty-seven million dollars waiting for him and told the guy offering it to him “We’re listening to Janet’s album. Could we do it later?” So of course he’d take fitness cues from ‘Yonce, and of course because she’s Beyonce it worked.

Of course.

Check out the entire podcast below, featuring stories about Doc Rivers, Redick’s Finals trip with the Orlando Magic in 2009, what the trade deadline is like for players on the bubble and the Beyonce story around the 114-minute mark.

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