NBA legend Kevin Garnett recently expressed deep disappointment in Bam Adebayo, Evan Mobley and Paolo Banchero on his and Stephen A. Smith’s new show “Bigger Than The Game”, calling out a perceived lack of year-over-year growth and aggressive star energy.
— who once scored 83 points in a game.(Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
Garnett, the former two-way superstar Garnett stated it “pains” him to watch talented young bigs go through the motions, questioning what they actually worked on during the summer to transition from a “1.0 to 2.0” version of themselves. The one-time NBA champion and 2004 NBA MVP calls it the lack of offseason progression, and in his humble opinion that’s unacceptable.
The Big Ticket Calls It A Lack Of Drive
Garnett, who played his heart out nightly and came back from each offseason with newfound aggression and added pieces to his repertoire, argued that massive modern contracts sometimes dull the daily competitive grind and hunger needed to dominate at the highest tier.
Garnett told Smith this about the three aforementioned players he mentioned.
“I use Bam because I love watching him. I love his style. But I’m also watching the league of young guys. Watching Mobley, I’m watching Bam. I’m watching all the younger guys in here, right? And each time I watch them, I sit here with guys that have never played in the league and we all sit here and talk, right? But I sit here and I go, ‘Damn, I wanna see what Bam brought this year that’s gonna make him one of the best bigs this year.’ I wanna see what Evan Mobley gonna bring this year. I wanna see what Paolo gonna bring,” Garnett said.
“I’m sitting here just articulating the league, bro. Just looking at it, right? And I get so disappointed when I go away with … not what I expected to see versus what I’m looking at. And then that tells me you did nothing in the summer,” he explained.
“I know what goes on in the summer. I know when you go work on something, when you have an injury in April, I know when you get to July, you don’t have an injury anymore. I know a lot of these injuries that these guys are continuously coming back having the same injury to the next …You didn’t fix it during the summer. So what did you do?” Garnett asked.
“I’m just holding this league accountable,” he declared. “Bro, that’s all I’m saying. And you know what? I love all you trainers out here who are actually training these guys. But for guys to go from 1.0 to 2.0, you gotta come to the wax, man. You gotta go to a player that emulates or somebody that can give you league sh*t to take you to an advantage. Because if you ain’t getting an advantage, you’re just doing what you’re doing, bro.”
Garnett Talks About Each Player Individually
As it pertains to Adebayo, the Miami Heat star, KG praised his style and ability but hammered his lack of “superstar energy” and passive scoring nights (hovering around 13–15 points). Garnett demanded that a marquee big of Bam’s caliber — especially playing alongside or next to top talent — needs to consistently hunt 25 points and 12 rebounds a night.
When he discussed Cavs rising star Evan Mobley, who’s drawn physical and stylistic comparisons to Garnett early in his career due to his length and two-way versatility, Mobley is held to an ultra-high standard. KG wants to see him aggressively expand his offensive footprint rather than plateauing as a complementary high-level defensive piece.
Lastly, when Garnett talked about Magic star and franchise player Paolo Banchero, his expectation was a true superstardom leap, though critics noted the critique landed awkwardly as Banchero suffered a high ankle sprain early in the season after starting hot (averaging 24.5 points through his first two games).
Fans Chime In
“KG ain’t lyin at all, get in the lab & work on those skillz that will get u to the next level… Speak Big Ticket,” a fan said.
“He’s right, but these guys don’t care. They collecting a HUGE paycheck. They looking at it, like I need to get as many contracts as possible. It sucks when you have one of them on your team though,” another fan said.
“KG has the best sports podcast of them all,” a fan commented.
“I agree with him on Bam and Mobley. Banchero looked much better before the injury working in the midrange,” another fan commented.
“These guys should be reaching out to KG, Timmy’s, C Bosh, Sheed, Webb etc often! Like all through the summer to workout and through the season to keep a killa mentality,” a fan quipped.
While KG makes valid points, today’s players just aren’t interested in working harder when they’re already being paid generational wealth.
