Post by Rog on Oct 20, 2016 0:04:43 GMT
The 53rd nominee of the NBN Hall of Fame is Kevin Garnett. Garnett was a good at everything big, and the question is was he good enough at anything to be among the elite in a league filled with legendary bigs. Or was he just your typical good at everything, great at nothing and therefore not a Hall of Famer? Lets look at the stats.
Career Stats
31.5 MPG, 19.2 PPG, 11 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.6 BPG, 1.1 SPG, 2.7 TOPG on 43% from the field, 75.3% from the line, and 35.6% from three
Best Season
Bucks(2002) - 27.3 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 4.4 APG, 1.5 BPG, 1.4 SPG, 3.4 TOPG on 46.3% from the field, 71.1% from the line, and 31.8% from three
Career Highs
Points: 51
Rebounds: 25
Assists: 14
Steals: 7
Blocks: 8
Achievements
Championships: 0
Player of the Game: 245
Player of the Week: 4
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 739
Triple Doubles: 11
Accolades
2000 - All-Star Game Participant
2000 - All-League Third Team
2002 - All-Star Game Participant
2002 - All-League Third Team
2003 - All-Star Game Participant
2003 - All-League Third Team
2005 - All-League First Team
2006 - All-Star Game Participant
2006 - All-League Second Team
2007 - All-Star Game Participant
2007 - All-League Second Team
2008 - All-Star Game Participant
2009 - All-League Second Team
Reasons For Induction
- Garnett was a 6 time All-Star participant. He was also named to one All-League first team, three All-League second teams, and three All-League third teams in his career.
- As already stated, Garnett was good at everything in his career, but he might just have been an elite defender. He was elite in generating turnovers for his teams for a big, averaging 1.1 steals and being close to 1.5 almost every year in his prime. He wasn't an elite shot blocker, but he was good enough averaging 1.6 a game for his career and being near 2 or at 2 all of his prime. He also carried a rating of A- or better his entire career where he was a starter, proving he was a good on ball defender as well as generating the stats he did.
- He was also a great, elite at times, scorer especially for a big. He put up 19.2 points a game in his career, a near elite number for a big in the current climate of the league, but quite that early on. However, during his peak years he could give you 24+ and did so four seasons in his career and 21+ in nine seasons in a row. For nine seasons, this big gave you 21 points a game.
- Garnett was a threat from three, hitting over 750 in his career while making 35% of them. He was also a good shooter at the line, again especially for a big shooting 75% for his career and flirting with 80% at times.
- KG might have been the best passing big in league history, averaging 3.5 in his career, and all these career numbers are dragged down by the last four seasons, KG was always good for 4 assists a game in his prime, as well as 5 at times. Incredible.
- While never elite, KG didn't ever hurt you on the boards averaging 11 a game for his career and giving you 12 to 12.5 a game in his 9 year prime. Solid numbers.
- Overall its tough to argue against Garnett isn't it? He was a stretch big with elite passing and defensive skills who could give you any aspect of good basketball you needed. For nine seasons he gave you 24 points, 12 rebounds, 4.5 assists, over 3 stocks, while giving you good on ball defense as well as being a rare stretch big. If that isn't Hall of Fame worthy, not much is.
Arguments Against Induction
- Surprisingly, there are a few arguments that you could argue should keep him out, and it begins with his awards. Sure, they are there, but only seven years of his career was he a top 3 player at his position, is that enough?
- Not an elite rebounder, really not even good. His numbers don't ever, minus one year, get him on the current leaderboards. So not a bad rebounder, but not a good one either.
- Had serious, serious turnover issues. You don't want any player averaging over 3 turnovers a game, let alone a big. He had seven seasons where he averaged over 3 turnovers and that was just a huge, huge issue for any team with him on their team.
- Was not efficient scoring the ball, shooting 43% in his career. He had some better seasons in the 44 to 45% range. Combined with his turnovers, was KG really a guy you wanted the ball in his hands?
- Statistically its tough to argue that Kevin Garnett was close to elite if not a near lock as a Hall of Famer, but these things go beyond stats. He had his flaws as a player that we've already covered and its a decent question whether or not he went titleless because of those flaws. Its tough to build a team around a guy who turns it over and shoots and misses as much as KG did. He played for nine different teams including the Magic three different times, don't you think a guy that was consistently putting his team in a place to win games would have been held onto more? Were his statistics inflated because of the fact that his teams weren't very good and he was able to be the man. Its possible to argue he should have been a background type player, rather than a star. Overall, is there too much "red" in his ledger for him to be a Hall of Famer? Its arguable and that is for you to decide.
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully!
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25**
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