Did KG Cross The Line?
Posted by Brian Robb on Nov 3, 2010
The news has been out since early this morning that Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva tweeted out a disturbing piece of trash talk during the game last night heard from C’s power forward Kevin Garnett. The Pistons have confirmed to ESPNBoston.com’s Chris Forsberg that Villanueva posted the tweets. Here are the full tweets from Villanueva’s Twitter account in case you missed them:
KG talks alot of crap, he’s prob never been in a fight, I would love to get in a ring with him, I will expose him
KG called me a cancer patient, I’m pissed because, u know how many people died from cancer, and he’s tossing it like it’s a joke,
I wouldn’t even trip about that, but a cancer patient, I know way 2 many people who passed away from it, and I have a special place 4 those
Needless to say, the accusations of these words from one of the league’s most notorious trash talkers have disturbed legions of NBA fans, cancer survivors, and everyone in between today, including myself. I’m sure there are many vile things said on the floor in the heat of the battle but this was one kind of talk where KG just really isn’t going to have a good excuse for, no matter what the situation was in occurred in. It doesn’t matter whether Villanueva is a cancer patient or not (he isn’t) there is still a problem there that needs to be addressed and apologized for.
Former CelticsHub writer Zach Lowe dug deep into the subject earlier this afternoon on his new SI blog The Point Forward and really breaks it down perfectly where I would imagine most C’s fans like myself stand on this reported outburst:
These Villanueva comments, if true? They break a code of human-to-human behavior that extends well beyond basketball. Villanueva does not have cancer. He has alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that is not life-threatening but can result in hair loss all over one’s body. Villanueva has been a very public spokesman for folks suffering from alopecia, and has spoken often to children dealing with the early stages of the disorder — children who seem to take great comfort from the fact that someone who went through problems just like theirs is in the NBA and comfortable appearing on TV all the time.
Calling Villanueva a “cancer patient”? It’s indecent. It’s not the way humans are supposed to behave in any context.
It reminds me of an incident that happened two summers ago, and forgive me, because I’ve brought it up before here and elsewhere. In the summer of 2009, Garnett was in Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (I’m not sure why) when a Pacers assistant approached him and asked if he would introduce himself to Tyler Hansbrough and A.J. Price. Both were about to start their rookie seasons. Garnett was probably one of their idols. KG’s response? He walked right on by and said, “[Expletive] your rookies,” according to The Boston Globe.
The Garnett defenders held this up as an example of his old-school competitiveness. It was a signal that Garnett would have been at home in the “good old days,” when players on opposing teams didn’t exchange man hugs before games or mingle off the court. Times when players hated their opponents, or at least manufactured hate by refusing to interact with them. It was that hatred, KG’s defenders said, that allowed Garnett to find the competitive fire he needs to play the hyperactive defense that fuels Boston.
I don’t buy it. This was the offseason, and these were two rookies on a lottery team that wasn’t going to challenge the Celtics until KG retires. They were almost as much fans as they were opponents. The situation calls for a level of decency Garnett could not summon.
Let me be crystal clear: I am not saying, by any stretch, that Garnett is a “bad” person or does not know how to treat others. Garnett is accountable to the press, his teammates and coaches swear by him, and I know many folks who have interacted with him in locker rooms or restaurants and found him decent if not all that forthcoming.
I am saying that Garnett’s behavior has verged a few times outside the code of normal ethical conduct, and that being in the midst of a competitive basketball game doesn’t excuse it. The context does not excuse joking that Villanueva is a cancer patient.
Be sure to read the Zach’s full post at The Point Forward
I couldn’t agree with my former colleague more. I understand the competitiveness, the intimidation factor, that goes into trash talking at any level, but sometimes enough is enough. If Villanueva is telling the truth, KG crossed a line last night. I’m sure many other guys have done it during their careers as well without publicizing it like Villanueva did.
What’s done is done now and to be sure the damage has been done. I just hope if it is true, KG stands up and addresses it this evening, apologizes for it so we can all move on from it.
The Ticker