Kevin Garnett is known for being one of the best two-way players to ever play in the NBA, someone that always played hard and wasn’t afraid to talk trash to anybody. Charles Barkley enjoyed a similar reputation throughout his own career, so it’s no surprise that KG looked up to Barkley when he was coming up in the league.
Garnett came into the league in 1996, meaning his early years in the league overlapped with a veteran Barkley. The duo were both in the Western Conference, Barkley with the Houston Rockets and Garnett with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Over the course of those 4 years, the two faced each other on 14 occasions, including thrice in the playoffs.
Barkley held an 11-3 record over the young Garnett and KG in turn tried to learn as much as he could from the Hall of Fame power forward, elaborating on why he looked up to the brilliant Barkley (via Basketball Network).
“Chuck was the first player I saw who’d mix it up like that yet also the best player on the court. He was so good that you couldn’t not love him. He was one of the two best trash-talkers I ever played against – him and Gary Payton – but no matter how much trash Chuck talked, he made sure his game had the last word. I looked up to him for that.”
“Facing Chuck was different. It was like playing chess. There was a mental aspect to it. The more I studied him, the more I was influenced by his psyche. I also looked up to him because he said I shouldn’t look up to him. I am not your role model, he announced in that famous Nike commercial. Damn, that shit was dope.”
Garnett would go on to become an NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, something that his idol Barkley could never manage. The two have since shared some banter about it too, during media appearances. Their relationship since retirement has been playful, with both often trying to roast one another. Chuck and KG will always be counted among the toughest to ever play in the NBA and arguably still belong on the Mount Rushmore of the greatest power forwards in the history of the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAOICXMGI9E
