In the early ‘70s, Spencer Haywood kicked the doors in when he transformed basketball by changing the rules, allowing players to go from high school to the NBA.
Twenty-five years later, Kevin Garnett took what Haywood started to another level.
Showtime has released a teaser for its new documentary that will focus on Kevin Garnett’s decision to skip college and enter the 1995 NBA Draft, where he was selected fifth overall.
Before Kobe, T-Mac, and LeBron did it, Garnett was the first one of his generation to say no to college, and yes to millions of dollars.
“We get in there, Mike Jordan in there. Scottie Pippen was in there,” says Garnett in one clip about his experience in an open run in Chicago before he declared for the draft.
“I jumped in, I tied my [shoes] up, and then Jordan was like ‘let’s go.’ I just remember Pippen saying that I was too young to be out here … and it was Isiah Thomas like, ‘I saw you play Scottie Pippen, you could play in the league right now. And when he said that, the world stopped … He said, ‘Boy, do you know you can go to the league from high school?'”
Guys like Dwight Howard, Monta Ellis, Amar’e Stoudemire might have all gone to college if it wasn’t for the success that Garnett had in his rookie season, as he averaged 10.4 points, 6.3 rebounds in 28.7 minutes during his first year in the league.
The documentary is scheduled to be released this fall.
