Kevin Garnett is hailed as one of the greatest power forwards of all time, while Giannis Antetokounmpo is arguably the best power forward in the NBA right now. These two icons have faced each other only five times, as Garnett retired in 2016, just three years after Antetokounmpo was drafted.
In a recent interview with the Milwaukee Bucks’ media team, Garnett addressed his first impression of Giannis Antetokounmpo when he faced him in the league.
“Well, I had played against Giannis a couple of times, and I think the first couple of times I played him, I didn’t even remember. It wasn’t anything that made me kind of, you know, stick out to remember the kid or anything. I don’t even recall it… to the point where it wasn’t an impression.”
“It wasn’t until the third time, or I think I was a little older. I think it was in Minnesota. I think we had a preseason game against Milwaukee, and I could tell just how he looked like Bruce Lee. He looked super ripped.”
“He looked different… His posture was straight up. He looked super.. You know what I’m saying? So when I saw that, that was my first interaction with him in this preseason game.”
“And then obviously the next year I retire, and then I get a call from Jay Kidd to ask me if I can actually come in and work with him because Giannis had requested to come in.”
“So then my first impression of him is that he was very respectful and he was very um timid.. When I would you know talk to him, and when I would say certain things to him, he wouldn’t look me in the face would he would look down, he would you know he’d be listening.”
“And then I start making him look at me…I’m giving it to him, and then he’ll just nod his head and look, and then as I started working with him a little more, I noticed that he had a fire that he wanted to let out.”
Since it’s nearly a decade ago, Garnett must have forgotten, but the duo faced each other five times in the NBA during the regular season itself. Giannis Antetokounmpo dominated that matchup as Garnett was in the declining years of his NBA career. While Antetokounmpo won three out of those five games, he outperformed Garnett in four out of the five games.
Giannis Antetokounmpo averaged 12.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game against Garnett. Meanwhile, Garnett averaged 6.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game in that matchup. It is evident that in every facet of the game, Antetokounmpo dominated Garnett. Yet, Garnett claims to have no recollection of him until a preseason game in his final NBA season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo undoubtedly had one of the greatest body transformations in NBA history, but Garnett saying he didn’t notice Antetokounmpo’s game until he had that body transformation is pretty surprising.
