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Kevin Garnett Nickname The Big Ticket

February 23, 2012 by · Comments Off on Kevin Garnett Nickname The Big Ticket 

Kevin Garnett Nickname The Big Ticket, Kevin Maurice Garnett (born May 19, 1976) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays power forward for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In high school, Garnett was a 1995 McDonald’s All-American at Farragut Career Academy and won a national player of the year award. Garnett entered the 1995 NBA Draft, where he was selected with the 5th overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves and became the first NBA player drafted directly out of high school in 20 years.

Garnett made an immediate impact with the Minnesota Timberwolves leading them to eight-consecutive playoff appearances. In 2004, Garnett led the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals and was voted Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the 2003-04 season. Since his second season in the NBA, Garnett has been named to 14 All-Star Games, winning the All-Star MVP award in 2003, and is currently tied for 3rd-most All-Star selections in NBA history.[n 1] He was awarded the regular season’s NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the 2007-08 season and has been a nine-time member of the All-NBA Teams selection and a eleven-time member of the All-Defensive Teams selection. Garnett currently holds several all-time Timberwolves franchise records.

After spending 12 seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Garnett was traded to the Boston Celtics in a blockbuster trade in 2007. In his first year with the Celtics, he helped lead them to their first NBA championship since 1986.

The trade for Garnett had many experts speculating that the Celtics would have a resurgence during the 2007-08 season. The combination of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Garnett were almost automatically nicknamed “The Big Three” by the media, after the Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish trio. Garnett wore jersey number 5 for the Celtics since his number with the Timberwolves, number 21, was retired by the Celtics, previously worn by Bill Sharman. He made his Boston debut with a strong performance against the Washington Wizards, with 22 points and 20 rebounds. He also led all players in voting for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game. Garnett received 2,399,148 votes, the sixth highest total in NBA All-Star balloting history. However, Garnett was unable to play due to an abdominal strain, and Detroit Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace was named by NBA Commissioner David Stern to replace him. East All-Star head coach Doc Rivers replaced Garnett with Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh in the starting lineup. Garnett passed 20,000 points for his career, becoming the 32nd player in NBA history to reach the mark, with a layup in the 2nd quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies on March 8, 2008. On April 22, 2008, Garnett was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the 2007-08 season. It was the only major award a Celtic player had not claimed since the franchise’s foundation in 1946. However, Garnett claimed it was a team effort which helped him win the award. Garnett was also third in MVP voting for the year, behind only Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul. Garnett helped the Celtics to their 17th NBA Championship, with 26 points and 14 rebounds in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. During that championship season, Garnett and Celtics legend Bill Russell had heart to heart conversations together which were captured on television. On June 18, 2008, Garnett and Ray Allen appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, soon after winning the championship.

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