I’ve never been a big fan of Kevin Garnett….ever. I’ll give him his “props” and say he is a talent like the NBA has not seen. He is also one of the biggest “trash talkers” in the NBA. Believe me, I’ve been courtside and heard the mess that this guy runs during a game. It’s enough to tell the kids “Earmuffs buddy”. It also hasn’t done anything to help my perception of him and lack of respect. Now we have this….
“KG called me a cancer patient, I’m pissed because, u know how many people died from cancer, and he’s tossing it like it’s a joke.”
That quote comes from a player on an opposite team named Charlie Villanueva who suffers from alopecia universalis, a medical condition that results in hair loss. It’s not terminal (that I am aware of) and it certainly hasn’t slowed Villanueva from a solid college and NBA career. This isn’t about him, his condition or even basketball. It’s about saying you’re sorry.
“My comment to Charlie Villanueva was in fact ‘You are cancerous to your team and our league,'” Garnett said. “I would never be insensitive to the brave struggle that cancer patients endure. I have lost loved ones to this deadly disease and have a family member currently undergoing treatment. I would never say anything that distasteful. The game of life is far bigger than the game of basketball.” -Kevin Garnett
WHAT? Wait…WHAT? I heard that last night as the talking heads on ESPN brushed it under the rug (including his head coach) as a “misunderstanding”. Am I the only guy that heard, then read his first sentence of that statement? How is THAT any different then what he allegedly said? Especially given that he has “a family member undergoing treatment”. Then you should be all that more sensitive to even using the word at all Kevin…
What I would like to have heard from Garnett last night was an apology. I get trash talk. I get getting in your opponents head and gaining any edge possible. I get “where he’s come from”. I would probably have been alright with him simply saying “I’m sorry to Villeneuva, and any person touched by or battling this terrible disease. My comments were made in the heat of the game and for that I am very sorry”. He didn’t say that though.
And neither do I…….
I’ve never said anything like what Garnett said but I have a real hard time saying “I’m sorry” for far less hurtful things I say. I am about as sarcastic as they come and often, those comments cut. They hurt. When approached, I get more defiant and usually more sarcastic. Why is it so hard to say “I’m sorry”? Why do I just keep digging a deeper hole rather than restoring a relationship, a person, a soul?
In this way (and this way only), I guess Kevin Garnett and I are not that different after all….
