KG is a jerk off the court (according to The Detroit News)

[bdm860]

I came across this article while browsing through the articles/rumors on InsideHoops.com.  This is from The Detroit News. http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080602/SPORTS0102/806020370
But the thing that caught my attention was this:

Watching Wallace battle Boston's Kevin Garnett -- two of the elite power forwards of our time -- offered a fascinating contrast in personalities.

Off the court, Garnett can be a jerk. He is rude to ball boys and locker room attendants. He gets himself so intensely wound before games, he's even a jerk to his teammates at times.

But on the court, Garnett is the perfect teammate. He plays hard every second he's on the floor. He shares the ball. He executes the game plan completely and without questioning anything. If the coach says to cut, he cuts. If the coach says to play zone, he plays zone.

Wallace off the court is one of the warmest and funniest guys in the league. There isn't a ball boy or locker room attendant that he hasn't tipped lavishly. You think back on all the things he has done -- buying championship belts for his teammates, working patiently and tirelessly with the young guys on the team, working tirelessly for underprivileged kids in the community -- he has a heart of gold.

But on the court, Wallace can be a jerk. There are times, because he is so ridiculously skilled, he just gets bored and lax. He doesn't always agree with the game plan, but instead of arguing about it before the game, he sometimes tries to rebel against it during the game.

According to this article Garnett can be a jerk off the court.  I can see him being in a zone before a game where you don't want to mess with him, but I've never heard before that he is rude to ball boys, locker room attendants, and teammates.  I can't really say if Garnett is a nice guy off the court or in the locker room, but I have never heard negative things about him before.  I met him once in the airport this past December and he was nice to me then.  Anybody ever heard/experienced anything negative about KG off the court?

[Redz]

I seem to recall hearing the same kind of stuff about Jordan.  It's no skin off my back if KG's a jerk to a ballboy.  Just keep winning BABY!

[Green4ever]

I think this is Detroits way of feeling better about themselves. Garnett is misunderstood, he is just so intense that at times it may seem rude but in reality he probably doesn't mean anything by it. personally its hard for me to understand how the person who wrote this article got this information that no one ever mentioned before.

[Roy Hobbs]

KG has definitely had problems with teammates in the past, and there have been articles this season saying that the various personalities on the team have clashed at times.  I know KG admitted he and Ray got into it a couple of times, but everyone seemed cool.

Off the court, people on here have said KG is a bit of a jerk in terms of signing autographs.  I've never heard any of the other stuff cited in that article.

My guess is that KG is intense and private.  That doesn't necessarily make him a jerk, though; I'd rather hear specifics before making any judgments on him.

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

Didn't Garnett win the community assist award or whatever it's called?

That's just the talk of sour grapes coming out of Deeeeeeetroit. 

[clover]

Jeez, why can't there just be more Leon Powes!  ;-)

A gentleman off the court and sublimely intense on the court.

(Though doc would say, not always in position...)

[crownsy]

yea, i'd trust this article more if it wasen't printed in a detroit paper 3 days after thier team collapsed and sparked rumors of being broken up...

not saying KG isn't probley a bit of a private guy off the court, and that could come off as elitest, but consider the timing and source. a better title for this article in the paper would have been.

"we lost, but atleast one of the guys who beat us is a jerk. now you can feel like your better than them again."

[Kuberski33]

At this point, who cares?  I'm sure Acie Earl was a real peach of a guy....

These guys aren't coming over for dinner, they're trying to win a title. 

[LakerLanny]

He does a lot of false bravado on the court with the chest pounding and smack talking and such.

Usually the sign of a guy who is mentally weak and doesn't really believe in himself.

When he has matched up vs Kobe's teams in the past in the playoffs, there has been NO DOUBT about who The Man was.  And it wasn't KG.

I don't see that changing here either.  Hopefully at least the next time he pushes a ref he gets suspended like anyone else would.

Lakers in 5.

[Big Ticket]

KG is very private when it comes to his... by golly... private life.  A lot of times, especially self-absorbed writers like Jim Gray, think it is their right to know, get, and write about anything they want.  That was never sat well with KG.  He's said hundreds of times that what he does while playing basketball is fair game, but when he's not "at work", don't expect him to talk about his personal stuff.

This kind of behavior only comes off as being a jerk to people that think it's responsibility to give them his time, all the time.  There has always been a tiff between him and the media... hell, Lacie Banks, formerly of the Chicago Sun Times, wrote an article in 2004 admitting he voted Jermaine O'neal as MVP because he gave Banks a pregame interview, and KG wouldn't!  That is the danger and power writers have... they can trash someone over spilled milk.

As fas as KG being a jerk to ball boys and equipment managers??  That's the first I've heard of this.  In Minnesota it was written dozens of times that KG treats EVERYONE on the team equally, whether it be teammates, ball boys, equipment guys, or parking lot attendants.  There were several stories written about his gift giving, and that nobody associated with the players was left off his list.

But I don't know him personally, so I can only go off what I hear and see and make my opinions from there.  Maybe he's not the nicest guy in the world, but I'm pretty confident that anything negatives usually come from his unnatural passion to win.  Anytime he sees something get in the way of that, I think he lets it be known that he doesn't like it.

[bdm860]

When he has matched up vs Kobe's teams in the past in the playoffs, there has been NO DOUBT about who The Man was.  And it wasn't KG.

Wasn't Kobe either. cough *Shaq* cough.

[Roy Hobbs]

He does a lot of false bravado on the court with the chest pounding and smack talking and such.

Half the players in the league talk smack, including Larry Bird and MJ.  KG uses it to get himself psyched, and I don't see it as false bravado in the slightest.  KG has come up big in several playoff games this post-season, and I expect that to continue when the Lakers are guarding him with inferior defensive players.

Anyway, please try to keep on topic; I'm not sure how a discussion of KG off-the-court turned into a KG vs. Kobe debate.  Posts like this come perilously close to the line of trolling.

[jaketwice]

A Bostonian a JERK? I am SO SURPRISED. Ever drive a car in this city?

You could also say "KG is a real person, he doesn't disguise who he is just because he's famous;" or you could say "KG was in a bad mood the day that DETROIT beat writer happened to see him;" or you could say "KG just had a baby while at the apex of his career, and has a short fuse lately."

But really - how the heck would you know?  This cult of personality nonsense never did it for me. I mean, do you think Heidi and Spencer will be at the game? What is this, US Weekly Green?

At this point, who cares?  I'm sure Acie Earl was a real peach of a guy....

These guys aren't coming over for dinner, they're trying to win a title. 

Hahaha TP.

[Roy Hobbs]

I remember in Italy, KG bought all the rookies designer suits.  It's not like the guy is totally a prima donna.

[CT34]

The first time my wife and I had the chance to meet KG it was a few years ago when his cousin Shamond Williams was on the Cs.  The Cs just beat the Twolves in a close game I think Shamond and KG both got T's for talking trash to each other in that game.  

Anyways, after the game my wife and I was in the back talking to Shamond for a few minutes and here come KG walking out of the locker room heading to the bus.  There was a bunch of teenage boys yelling KG,KG, and he just bush them off.  My wife was like what a jerk KG is, my wife said this not knowing that Shamond Williams and KG were cousin.  So Shamond runs out to get KG.  KG comes back in the build to meet an talk with the kids.  

Now it just so happen that the kids was a part of Shamond Williams younger brothers AAU team.  If he had not been for Shamond going back to get KG those kids who was a part of his own Cousin AAU team would have thought of he as being a jerk.

My wife and I was introduce to KG at the time.  My wife was didn't give him the time of day because she thought he was a jerk and the only reason why he came back was because Shamond went and got him.  Up until this season when KG became a Celtics and my wife and I got the chance to meet and know KG a little better he is now my wife favorite player.  

So my point is KG can be a jerk at times to people he does not know.  But once you get to know him, he will give you the shirt off his back.