Kevin Garnett will probably go down as the most charming crazy person in the history of the NBA, and there are plenty of moments in Howard Beck’s massive new oral history on Garnett to support that thesis. Perhaps no Garnett-related anecdote has captured the man’s essence as perfectly as this one, from longtime friend Tyronn Lue:
Tyronn Lue: A lot of people do all their howling on the court and they’re faking just for attention, but what he does is genuine. So one day we were at his house and we were watching Puff Daddy’s show Making the Band, and in one of the scenes, some new guys came in and were trying to sing and were trying to compete against the guys who had been there. And KG just got so hyped, “Motherf——r, you’ve got to stand up for yours! You’ve got to fight! Motherf——r, you’ve got to come together!” He’s going crazy, he’s sweaty. And he just head butts the wall and put a hole in the wall of his house.
To be fair to Garnett, Making The Band was an incredible show. It’s the last MTV show that was truly appointment television, and my younger self used to get hyped beyond reason while watching it. Remember the marathon rap battle?
Remember when Fred and Ness brawled?
Remember when Mysterious completely lost it?
I’m about to headbutt a wall right now.
Anyway, Beck’s entire oral history is great, and you should read it.