When someone calls an NBA player a “thug,” it’s often a racist code word for something else, in my opinion.
Without the space to jump into that topic, there are a few NBA players deserving of the pejorative stripped of its racist connotation. This player has been celebrated for more than a decade as one of the game’s great team leaders, perhaps its hardest worker and is often lauded for his high basketball intelligence, knowledge and respect for the history of the game.
And no, this player does not have tattoos or an arrest record.
It’s quite the paradox, apparently.
Kevin Garnett is a thug — always has been.
Without the national spotlight, “KG” acted the same way in Minnesota as he has for Boston. While this was never included in the narrative of Garnett’s escape from basketball Siberia, as a Denver Nugget fan (yes, pre-Melo and soon to be post-Melo), I can attest that Garnett’s behavior has always been deplorable.
YouTube it if you need to.
As Jason Whitlock might write, the cowards (or is it Cowherds?) in the national media are too blinded by championship rings, too scared of the bully, to make him consistently answer for his despicable antics.
Reach the reporter at nick.ruland@asu.edu
