San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan and Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics icon Kevin Garnett lead the 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame inductees. The two big men are joined by the late Kobe Bryant and six other basketball legends.
TD and KG are considered two of the best power forwards of all time. They faced each other several times during their successful career, and now entered the hall of the immortals together. After the 2020 Class was announced, both players reacted to the news, saying similar stuff about what this means to their careers and how proud they feel of being a Hall of Famer.
Duncan spoke to SportsCenter, reflecting on his 19-year NBA career, revealing he didn’t dream he’d be part of the HOF.
“Kind of the end of a journey here. It was an incredible career. I enjoyed it so much. To call it a dream come true isn’t doing it justice,” Duncan told ESPN. “I never dreamed I’d be at this point.”
“To think of the people who are in the Hall of Fame and to be a part of that class is the special part,” Duncan said. “Being a part of the history of basketball, the legends of basketball. Being a part of that is the big thing for me.”
Duncan spent 19 years with the San Antonio Spurs, racking up several records with the Texans, including five championships, two NBA MVP awards, three Finals MVP and 15 calls to the All-Star game, among several other accolades. TD reached 1,000 career wins, becoming the only player to do so with one team.
On the other hand, Garnett was interviewed by Rece Davis and his former Celtics teammate Paul Pierce. KG delivered an emotional to his HOF induction, calling it the conclusion for a wonderful career.
“It’s the culmination,” Garnett said. “You put countless hours into this, you dedicate yourself to a craft, you take no days off, you play through injury, you play through demise, you play through obstacles, you give no excuses for anything, you learn, you build. This is the culmination. All those hours of everything you’ve ever put up for it all, this is what you do it for right here. To be called ‘Hall of Famer’ is everything.
He said his work ethic on the court is the main responsible for this honor, as he was always a great teammate who earned everybody’s respect.
“I felt like to have a brand and to be able to call yourself the best, you had to work like it, you had to practice like it. If I was asking players to dive on the floor and be able to do things that normally they wouldn’t necessarily do, they had to see it. So I took my craft very seriously.
“One of the things I like to always say I was, better than anything [else], that I was a great teammate and that was huge for me.”
KG won an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics, one MVP award with the Minnesota Timberwolves was a 15x All-Star and made it four times to the All-NBA First Team.
These two had a terrific career, and this is the pinnacle for them. Two of the best big men in the history of the game and complete idols for those who grew up watching them play and going against each other.
