March 10, 2003

GARNETT'S MVP SEASON MAY LEAD WOLVES OUT OF FOREST

      While Shaquille O’Neal is still the player that carries the most weight in the NBA, both figuratively and literally, Kevin Garnett is the player having the best season and he could lead Minnesota to its Promised Land—the second round of the playoffs.  The Timberwolves have the second best record in the league since the new year--behind San Antonio—and have established themselves as a force in the top heavy Western Conference.  They have accomplished this despite not having starting point guard Terrell Brandon all season, losing shooter Wally Szerbiak for 30 games and power forward Joe Smith for 25.  The reason is simple—Garnett, who is averaging career highs in points, rebounds and assists.

       The Timberwolves franchise is beginning to develop the complex of being a perennial bridesmaid.  Six straight playoff appearances and six straight first round defeats have marked their recent history.  Of course this is a relative string of success compared to the early years of the franchise.  Since coming into the NBA in 1989 the Wolves failed to win even 30 games in a season, before Garnett, and management had been unable to draft an impact player with their high draft choices.  But things changed after their sixth successive abysmal season when the Wolves drafted the high school phenom with the fifth pick in the 1995 draft.  Within a year the team’s fortunes changed.  In 1996-97 the Wolves won 40 games and made it to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.  Losing three straight to the Houston Rockets did not deter the Wolves from feeling that, with Garnett, they were a team on the rise.

       Before the 1997 season began the Wolves decided to lock up their franchise player and signed him to an NBA high $121 million dollar six year contract.  It was a contract that dwarfed any that had been seen in the NBA but the Wolves were desperate.  Management had been unable to draft or trade for star players, and they feared that players would not want to play in Minnesota.  They needed to keep Garnett to ensure that they remained competitive.  It was, however, such a large contract, it forced the NBA and the players association to lock horns over the matter and that battle led to the lockout before the 1998 season.  The contract has weighed Garnett down like an anchor throughout his NBA career and has pinned the underachiever label on him despite the fact that, over his career, he averages 20 points 10 rebounds and four assists per game.  As long as the Wolves continue to be playoff fodder though Garnett, who makes the highest annual salary this season at more than $25 million, will continue to be classified as overpaid.

       After six seasons of frustrating first round playoff exits Garnett rededicated himself this past off-season.  Instead of taking a few weeks off after the season Garnett started to work out early.  “It was something like July 1, 2…I got me a trainer and really got after the weights.”  Garnett also found a new workout guru—yoga.  “I had a couple of sessions…where I could really envision myself doing certain things, controlling my energy, challenging it, centering everything.  You’d be amazed how much that’s helped this year.”  How it likely has helped is to imbue Garnett with more patience.  He doesn’t get as frustrated with his less talented teammates, and he has the mental strength to put tough losses behind him.  The numbers are astounding--he is averaging 23 points, 13 rebounds, 40 minutes, and nearly six assists, and leads the league in double-doubles.  He is the number one rated player in efficiency ranking and is the league leader in total defensive rebounds. 

      Garnett will be judged once again by how deep the Wolves go in the playoffs, but with a possible first round match-up with Portland it is possible that they could get out of their first round funk this year.  The Wolves still don’t have enough talent surrounding Garnett to be considered a championship contender, the result of poor drafts and poor trades by Wolves management.  The team drafted Ray Allen the year after Garnett only to trade him away on draft day for Stephon Marbury who never fit in with Garnett or the team.  Marbury was then moved in a three-way deal that netted them Brandon, a player who has been either injured or ineffectual for most of his stay in Minny.   And then of course there was the infamous under the table deal with Joe Smith that cost the franchise their last three (with two more to come) first round draft choices.  Even before the Smith fiasco the Wolves had been unable to draft properly.  Here are some of Minnesota’s previous first round choices—Felton Spencer (6^th), Luc Longley (7^th) Christian Laettner (3^rd) Isaiah Rider (5^th) Donyell Marshall (4^th).  Longley was a serviceable player—for Chicago, Laettner has moved around, Rider was a flake for years, and Marshall has only recently come into his own first in Utah and now in Chicago.  Is it any wonder that Garnett is considering bolting the franchise when his contract expires after next year. 

      This season, however, belongs to Garnett.  He was the player of the month for February in the Western Conference leading Minnesota to a 12-1 record in the month and helping the team move into fifth place in the conference standings—with a very real shot at finishing fourth.  Garnett has been spectacular all season, has worked through double and triple teams, and has done what all great players do—he makes his teammates better. 

      Whether his effort this season will be enough to shed the blanket of mediocrity that covers the Minnesota franchise will be seen in May, but for the regular season his play has outshone Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Tim Duncan and Shaq.  Unless his game completely falls apart in the last quarter of the season Kevin Garnett should be rewarded at season’s end with the MVP trophy.  For Garnett though the award will be a hollow one if the team once again falls on its sword in the playoffs.