BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
Kevin Maurice Garnett born May 19, 1976 nicknamed "K.G.", is an American professional basketball power forward and center with the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In high school, Garnett was a 1995 McDonald's All-American at Farragut Career Academy and won a national player of the year award. Garnett entered the 1995 NBA Draft, where he was selected with the 5th overall pick by the Minnesota Timber wolves and became the first NBA player drafted directly out of high school in 20 years.
Garnett made an immediate impact with the Minnesota Timber wolves leading them to eight-consecutive playoff appearances. In 2004, Garnett led the Timber wolves to the Western Conference Finals and won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. Since his second season in the NBA, Garnett has been named to 15 All-Star Games, winning the All-Star MVP award in 2003, and is currently tied for 2nd-most All-Star selections in NBA history. He was awarded the regular season's NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the 2007–08 season and has been a nine-time member of the All-NBA Teams selection and a twelve-time member of the All-Defensive Teams selection. Garnett currently holds several all-time Timber wolves franchise records.
After spending 12 seasons with the Minnesota Timber wolves, Garnett was traded to the Boston Celtics in a blockbuster trade in 2007. In his first year with the Celtics, he helped lead them to their first NBA championship since 1986, while also finishing third for the MVP award. In 2013, Garnett was included in a second headline trade that sent him to the Brooklyn Nets alongside long-time Celtic Paul Pierce.
Early life and education
Garnett was born in Greenville, South Carolina on May 19, 1976, to Shirley Garnett and O'Lewis McCullough, the second of his mother's three children.[5] Garnett's mother and McCullough were never married and their relationship ended shortly after his birth, leaving her to raise Garnett and his two siblings alone.[6] When Garnett was twelve years old, his mother married Garnett's stepfather and moved the family to Mauldin, South Carolina.
Garnett fell in love with the sport of basketball while attending Hillcrest Middle School, although he did not play organized basketball until high school. In his first three high school years, Garnett played for Mauldin High School. However, during the summer prior to his senior year of high school, Garnett was in the general vicinity of a fight between black and white students. Although not directly involved, Garnett was one of three students arrested for second-degree lynching, a charge he managed to expunge through a pre-trial intervention. Due to the racially charged incident and fearful of being a target, Garnett decided to leave Mauldin. He transferred to Farragut Career Academy in Chicago,Illinois for his senior year of high school. He led Farragut to a 28–2 record and was named National High School Player of the Year by USA Today. He was named Mr. Basketball for the State of Illinois after averaging 25.2 points, 17.9 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 6.5 blocks while shooting 66.8% from the field. In four years of high school, Garnett posted an impressive 2,553 points, 1,809 rebounds and 737 blocked shots. He was named the Most Outstanding Player at the McDonald's All-American Game after registering 18 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots, and then declared himself eligible for the 1995 NBA Draft.In high school, Garnett played alongside Ronnie Fields, who also became a professional basketball player. To mark the 35th anniversary of the McDonald’s All American High School Boys Basketball Game, Garnett was honored as one of 35 Greatest McDonald's All Americans.
NBA career
Minnesota Timber wolves
Early years (1995–1997)
Garnett was drafted with the fifth pick of the 1995 NBA Draft by the struggling Minnesota Timber wolves, and became the first player to be drafted directly out of high school since 1975. After joining the NBA for the 1989–90 season, the Timber wolves had not won more than 29 games in any season. In Garnett's rookie season, the Timber wolves were in the midst of a transition phase; they replaced Bill Blair with Flip Saunders as head coach early in the season and made several trades. Garnett initially came off the bench in his rookie year, but moved into the starting lineup soon after Saunders became head coach. In his rookie year, Garnett and fellow newcomer Tom Gugliotta carried the scoring load. Garnett did not immediately leap to stardom as later prep-to-pro prospects such as Amar'e Stoudemire, LeBron James and Dwight Howard would, but he did have a very respectable rookie year. He averaged 10.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game and was voted into the All-Rookie Second Team.[3] Despite having some promising players, the Timberwolves suffered through their seventh consecutive sub-30 win season and failed to make the playoffs. At the time Garnett was the youngest NBA player in history at 19 years and 11 months of age.[9]
Prior to the 1996–97 season, the Timberwolves made a draft-day trade for point guard Stephon Marbury of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. During the season Garnett posted improving averages of 17.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.1 blocks and 1.7 steals.[3] He also had two games where he registered eight blocks.[9] With a 40–42 record, the Timberwolves made their first playoff appearance in franchise history, Garnett and Gugliotta made their first All-Star appearances, and Marbury established himself as a valuable young lead guard. However, the Houston Rockets, led by Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and Charles Barkley proved to be too much as the Timberwolves were swept 3–0 in the first round of the 1997 NBA Playoffs.
Franchise player (1997–2001)
During the 1997–98 NBA season, the Minnesota Timber wolves and Garnett agreed on a six-year contract extension that was worth an unparalleled $126 million. The contract was a risky move and many pundits speculated that the deal would make it impossible for the Wolves to sign new players or even keep their own. The enormous size of Garnett's contract was considered, by numerous sports writers, a major cause of labor tensions between players and owners that led to a lockout which shortened the 1998–99 NBA season. Despite the furor over his new contract, Garnett continued to improve, averaging 18.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks, and 1.7 steals per game. Again, he was an All-Star, and the Timber wolves finished with their first winning record in franchise history (45–37 for the season). For the second consecutive year the young Timber wolves bowed out of the playoffs in the first round, this time losing 2–3 against the Seattle Super Sonics and superstar point guard Gary Payton. The two wins against the Sonics marked the Wolves' first-ever playoff game wins. The off-season started poorly for the Timber wolves though as 20-point per game scorer Tom Gugliotta left for the Phoenix Suns.
In the lockout-shortened season that followed, Garnett broke through as a superstar. Putting up stats of 20.8 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.8 blocks per game, he was named to the All-NBA Third Team. However, midway through the season Stephon Marbury was traded to the New Jersey Nets. Although the Wolves received two-time All-Star Terrell Brandon in return, they were not able to overcome the discord and limped into the playoffs as the 8th seed with a 25–25 record. The Wolves were defeated in the first round again, this time losing 1–3 to the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs who were led by young superstar and eventual NBA Finals MVP Tim Duncan. In the next season, Garnett continued his notable play, averaging 22.9 points, 11.8 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.5 steals per game and made the first of his four All-NBA First Team appearances. Assisted by sharpshooting rookie forward Wally Szczerbiak and steady veteran Brandon, the Wolves posted a franchise-best 50–32 record, but succumbed in the first round to the Portland Trail Blazers 3–1.
In the 1999–2000 NBA season, Timberwolves' guard Malik Sealy was killed by a drunk driver and the NBA ruled that the free agent signing of Joe Smith was illegal. The NBA punished the team for the illegal signing by stripping the team of three first-round draft picks, fining Glen Taylor (the owner of the team) $3.5 million, and banning general manager Kevin McHale for one year. Garnett led the Wolves to a 47–35 record and made the All-NBA Second Team, but again, the Wolves did not survive the first round of the playoffs, losing to the Spurs 3–1.
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