Where do you rank Kevin Garnett?

Primetime

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murksiderock said:
We got to see Dirk and Garnett compete in the same NBA at the same time, their primes overlapped dor about 8 years.

Earlier on, Garnett was viewed as the better player, but that sentiment started to shift as Dirk went on his mid-00s run. Garnett was always hands down the better defensive player, and while Dirk was a better shooter, you could easily make the argument Garnett was a better overall offensive player.

In a vacuum, Garnett was the better basketball player, had greater physical tools and more in his skill set.

The problem is you aren't just looking at things in a vacuum, you have to look at the impact of what these guys actually did.

When they went head to head in the playoffs, Dirk destroyed him. Not just Dallas the team---->Dirk was significantly flat out better in that series, against a guy many of you would say was arguably the greatest defender of his era.

So we saw that. It didn't change the real time opinion yet that Garnett was a better player (this was in '02), but neither guy's career ended in '02, so it holds weight when you view how the rest of their careers went. Also that showing and '02 playoffs was kinda Dirk's coming out party, he was super new and young then.

Garnett routinely had poor rosters around him in Minnesota, and Dirk had better rosters around him in Dallas. I can acknowledge this fact while also having an issue with a guy, allegedly as great as Garnett is, losing 5 consecutive Rd1 series and having a 2-6 overall playoff record in The West. I won't put all the L's on KG.

Getting thoroughly outplayed in '02 by Dirk is an issue, though. He also had home court vs the Lakers in two straight years, '03 and '04, and failing to win either one of those series stands out as one of those seminal moments; those were not great Laker teams. Obviously those also weren't great Minnesota teams but if you were That Guy, and those were the two best teams of his Wolves tenure, I need a "carry you on my back" moment.

Garnett has no playoff "carry you on my back" moments. Dirk has a few, and Dirk being a consistent playoff riser in comparison to KG adds value to Dirk that supersedes KG being the better on paper player.

To be clear, I don't think there's a hell of a gap between the two, I'm not saying that Dirk was so great he's way ahead of KG or anything. But Dirk winning and outplaying him H2H, Dirk having more consistently great playoff runs, and Dirk's knack for being a greater floor and ceiling raiser, give Dirk the edge to me. Steve Nash was a nobody until Dirk elevated him.

With that said, Giannis is a better basketball player than both. The problem Giannis is gonna face, is we may turn around and look at his career and this is it. 1 championship. And if he finishes with just one title, or just one Finals run, it will be an underachievement in comparison to Dirk and KG winning "only" 1 chip, because Giannis' ceiling is supposed to be higher.

Giannis has played in a much weaker East, than The West that Dirk and Garnett fought thru. And so far we have just two ECF runs, only one Finals run. Dirk had two Finals runs and three WCF runs in that Western Conference.

The jury is still out on where Giannis lands, right now all I'll say definitively is that yes he's a better basketball player than both....that doesn't mean he'll historically rank higher. Also doesn't mean he won't, but ultimately they all around the same place. If I had to rank right now, I'd say Giannis is ahead of KG, he has all of KG's achievements ND then some.

That means to me if you consider Duncan a four and Durant a three, Garnett at best is the #5 power forward (he's behind Duncan, Mailman, Dirk, and Giannis for sure).
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I agree with like… 100% of this assessment :ehh:

Edit-what’s this bullshyt about I can’t rep you unless I rep 25 other nyggas? Fukk them nyggas
 
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FlyRy said:
Bullshyt. Dirk cooked his ass in the playoffs and swept him.

Dirk was an all time playoff great. I can hardly think of any of kg playoff moments
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:yeshrug: It’s okay if you weren’t watching ball back then. Just admit it though.

Dirk wasn’t fukking with KG at any point until the knee injury in 2009. You can’t find one credible analyst who thought Dirk was better
 
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Only so high you can be when you arent an elite number 1 option offensively. He wasnt a guy you could pass the rock and say, "ok finish this game or this series...take us home". KG is the perfect, prototypical, GOAT 2nd option. Him and Kobe or Bron or shyt even Tim would have wrecked the league. We cant let potential and theatrics cloud our judgement. He had all the tools to be number 1 with a bullet, he just wasnt cut like that. A wealthy mans Sheed.

Duncan

Dirk
Giannis
Barkley
AD
KG/Malone

Out of respect I am not commenting on people I didnt see.

What Dirk did in Dallas for a decade is so underrated. And contrary to myth he wasnt on stacked teams every year. His squad was 50 wins and a top 4 seed in the superior conference every year with a revolving door around him. Dude literally swept KG with the difference in their PPG matching the difference in their teams PPG for the series. Dude had more top 10 defenses than KG during their time in the conference together.
 
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:yeshrug: There’s a reason KG’s status in history has only increased over the years as we’ve started to embrace advanced metrics. Most basketball purists already knew what’s up, but the casuals are gonna start to fall in line pretty quick too
 
murksiderock

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GOAT said:














:yeshrug: There’s a reason KG’s status in history has only increased over the years as we’ve started to embrace advanced metrics. Most basketball purists already knew what’s up, but the casuals are gonna start to fall in line pretty quick too
Click to expand...

Where does he rank in the PF pantheon for you?
 
FlyRy

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GOAT said:
:yeshrug: It’s okay if you weren’t watching ball back then. Just admit it though.

Dirk wasn’t fukking with KG at any point until the knee injury in 2009. You can’t find one credible analyst who thought Dirk was better
Click to expand...
I'm probably older than you breh. Cut that.

Your logic doesn't make sense considering Dirk was making more first team all NBA's in the mid to late 2000s and was MVP. Guaranteed 50 to 60 wins while one guy was missing the playoffs.
 
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