Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett stands for principle in NBA Labour Dispute
In all the meetings that took place between NBA owners and the National Basketball Players Association, the tall lean figure of Kevin Garnett (KG) often caught the eye.
Garnett is a lynchpin around whom many NBA players have converged in these times of uncertainty and the Boston forward has been inspirational in strengthening their resolve to stay strong.
For Kevin Garnett, the NBA lockout and the labour dispute do no matter in his future. He stands to lose if the lockout persists, yet he stands on principle and he stands strong.
The C’s star is at the end of a lucrative contract, the last one, or at least the last big one of his NBA career. He was slated to make $21 million next season with the Boston Celtics, yet he seems in no hurry for the lockout to
end and that money to arrive. He has been an ardent supporter of player rights throughout the lockout. Time and again, he has urged players not to concede ground, even if it means the loss of an NBA season, which would probably hurt him more than most.
It is the principle that matters to Kevin, and his peers appreciate him for that,
“What he’s doing now, to me, it says a lot about K.G.,” says a younger NBA player who made about $5 million last season. “He’s willing to sit out the year, and give up [$21 million] at the end of his last big contract, and probably
his last really good chance to win another ring. For him, this is about the principle.”
“I don’t want to hear this stuff from our guys saying, ‘Oh, he can afford to sit out. He’s made a lot of money.’ I respect the [expletive] out of those guys standing up for us right now, him, Kobe, all of them.”
Garnett of course knows all about the being in the eye of the storm, especially one during a lockout. He became the flashpoint of the last NBA labour dispute, when his huge $126 million contract almost singlehandedly started the
labour war.
KG has earned his fair share, and he has worked hard for it. He stayed with the Minnesota Timberwolves for much longer than they could have asked for, and he made them a factor in the NBA, something they haven’t been since he left.
Now in the twilight of his career, with a fat check and one last shot at another NBA World Championship waiting for him, Garnett has chosen to put his priorities on the back burner and has rather put the interests of the collective
ahead of his own.
That’s nothing brave he is doing, it’s just the way the man is.
“It’s very, very easy to jump ship when things get hard,” Garnett said. ”It’s very, very easy to start thinking differently. I’m not that type of person.”
Tags: