Kevin Garnett Thinks ‘We’re Missing Out On Greatness’ Now By Still Debating The NBA’s Past

For years, we’ve seen players who retire and enter the sports media often criticize the current generation for not playing the way they did, or saying the game is too soft or not as good as it once was. That’s why it’s always so refreshing when a former great goes the other direction and celebrates the game’s evolution and the talent in the league today.

Kevin Garnett is among the most prominent who does this in the NBA, as he marvels at what guys now are able to do, building on some of the things he helped bring into the league as one of the early hybrid big men. Garnett has been particularly effervescent in his praise of Victor Wembanyama, struggling to understand how someone 7’5 is able to move the way he does, handle the ball, and shoot. On a recent episode of Real Talk with Stephen A. Smith, Garnett told the ESPN talking head that he thinks the conversation around the NBA on TV shows and podcasts focuses far too much on the past and debating where people rank in NBA history, believing “we’re missing out on greatness right in front of us.”

Garnett highlights what LeBron James is doing at 38, Wembanyama is doing as a rookie, Nikola Jokic is doing “making Wilt Chamberlain roll over in his grave,” and Stephen Curry’s ability to “shoot from Mars” all being things we’ve never seen. I love hearing a Hall of Famer like Garnett say this, and while that doesn’t mean we should ignore or forget the past, but we should focus our conversation more on what is happening now and the incredible things we are seeing as opposed to constantly trying to find comparisons in the past.