In the 2019-2020 season, LeBron James and Anthony Davis teamed up to lead the Lakers to outstanding performance, but the third-year student Kyle Kuzma of the Purple and Gold Army failed to find his role, which was frustrating and disappointing. That year, Kuzma never performed at the expected level. Not only did he fail to become the team's third scorer, but he was also frequently involved in trade rumors. At that time, Lakers legend James Worthy said that Kuzma needed to learn to play an important supporting role in a successful strong team. He spoke from his own experience, saying that if he had gone to the Clippers to be the boss, he could have become a player like Dominic Wilkins, but he still chose to stay with the Lakers and assist Jabbar and Magic Johnson, and finally gained both fame and fortune. Wilkins was once the scoring champion and the winner of the first team of the year. This story inspired us: to fight in the NBA, you must not only have strength, but also need to clarify the role that best suits you. Whether you are the boss, the second boss or a role player, winning the championship is the hard truth.
In NBA history, there is a player who achieved certain results when leading a team alone, but the championship was far away. His technical style and playing style ultimately limited his ceiling. However, after he made some appropriate transformations and changes, the championship became easy to win. He is Kevin Garnett. Today, let's walk into KG's career and discuss the most suitable position on the court for him. Before switching to Boston in the summer of 2007, KG had fought for 12 seasons in Minnesota and gained enough honors on a personal level: 1 MVP, 3 first team of the year, 2 second team of the year, 2 third team of the year, 6 first defensive team of the year, 2 second defensive team of the year, 10 All-Stars, 4 rebounding champions. If we talk about the team's record, even KG's diehard fans will sigh in vain. In the 03-04 season, the season when he won the MVP trophy, he led the team to the Western Conference Finals. This is actually the only bright spot in KG's Timberwolves career. Before this, he lost in the first round for seven consecutive years. From the Rockets, Supersonics, Spurs to the Trail Blazers, Mavericks, and Lakers, it seems that any Western Conference team can hold KG and the Timberwolves by the throat in the first round. After that, he even missed the playoffs for three consecutive years. Although the competition pressure in the wild Western Conference was too great, as a top-level No. 4 superstar in NBA history, his performance was really unsatisfactory. Why is this? First of all, we need to clarify where KG's strengths are. It is generally believed that the two years from 2002 to 2004 were the peak period of the Timberwolves. In the 2003-2004 season, he played in all 82 regular season games, averaging 24.2 points, 13.9 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.46 steals, and 2.17 blocks per game. He led the Timberwolves to a 58-win season, the best record in the Western Conference that season, and the best record of the time, and won the MVP in one fell swoop.
---In the playoffs of that season, KG successively eliminated the Nuggets, Kings and the unprecedentedly powerful Lakers F4, and only lost in the Western Conference Finals in the 6th game, creating the Timberwolves' best playoff record at the time. In the previous year's 2002-2003 season, KG's performance was also outstanding. He played in all games and averaged 23.0 points, 13.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.38 steals and 1.57 blocks per game, and ranked second on the MVP list, only behind Duncan.
That year, Duncan averaged 23.3 points, 12.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and a terrifying 2.93 blocks per game, leading the Spurs to a 60-win record, and personally ended the Lakers dynasty in the playoffs and won the championship. Duncan's teammates were only freshman Gnabry, sophomore Parker and David Robinson in his last year. Facing such a strong opponent, KG lost in the MVP vote by a small margin of 871 to 962, which is incredible.
He and Duncan are both in the Western Conference, both are power forwards, both wear the No. 21 jersey, and both are top-notch superstars in both offense and defense. The battle between the two of them has always been a hot topic among fans at the beginning of the century. When it comes to defense, we must admit that KG's ability in defense is historically excellent, textbook-level, and even triggered a revolution for tall players on the defensive end. Although KG is an inside player, he is extremely mobile. Before his debut, the great defensive giants in NBA history, such as Russell, basically focused on controlling the restricted area and single defense, while KG could roam in the frontcourt in a large area and expand the defense range to the three-point line, using the upper line double-teaming and large-scale sweeping as his signature skills.
In the first three seasons of his career, he even played at the 3rd position for a long time. It can be said that KG is one of the most comprehensive and swinging 4th positions in history, and one of the best perimeter help defenders in history. Once the team needs him, he can play from the 3rd position to the 5th position. At the same time, he is always in high spirits and excited like a raging fire. His progress is endless. His passionate roar can bring tension to the whole team and instantly promote the defensive enthusiasm of the whole team. This also explains why the defensive style of his team is always passionate and fierce, which is different from Duncan.
Duncan's excellence on the defensive end is due to his historic rim protection ability. There is no difference between the two defensive styles. In short, they are roughly the same level of players on the defensive end. However, Duncan stayed in San Antonio for 19 years and won five championship titles, while Garnett (KG) struggled in Minnesota for 12 years but won nothing. Although Garnett's offensive ability is unquestionable, he led a group of old, weak and disabled players to win the championship as the team's only offensive core in the 02-03 season, winning unanimous praise from industry insiders. Whether it is post-up or face-up, he can do it perfectly. His career average playoff points per game reached 20.6 points, with a hit rate of more than 50%, while KG's career average playoff points per game was only 18.2 points, with a hit rate of only 47.8%. This 2.4-point difference and a slightly more than 2% difference in shooting percentage, because Duncan made the playoffs every year, the decline in his statistics in his later years naturally lowered the average, and KG failed to make the playoffs in the last two seasons of his career and did not get the opportunity to lower his statistics.
In the first round of the 1997-98 season, in the strong battle between the Timberwolves and the Supersonics, KG played the worst playoff game of his career. As the All-Star starter of the season, he played 43 minutes in this life-and-death battle, only 3 of 11 shots, only 7 points, and an astonishing 10 turnovers. In fact, KG had a total of 9 win or go home games in his Timberwolves career, but his record was a terrible 2 wins and 7 losses. In these 9 games, he averaged only 18.3 points per game, with a shooting percentage of only 40.3%.
Let's analyze KG's offensive routine. He doesn't have many offensive means, and his signature means are three gears: open mid-range shot, turnaround mid-range shot after receiving the ball first, mid-range shot with a tentative step facing the basket, and tip-in after offensive rebounds. Whether facing the basket or backing up, KG relies heavily on mid-range shots. During the 09-10 season finals, Paul Gasol once mocked KG for becoming a jump shooter. When the defensive intensity in the playoffs increases, KG's mid-range shooting rate will be greatly reduced. This results in KG often being unable to stand up and score continuously when the team is in a stalemate or behind and needs a wave of points to score quickly. KG's career playoff single-game highest score of only 35 points is a clear proof.
In the 2003-04 season when they reached the Western Conference Finals, even the team's point guard Sam Cassell scored 40 points twice in the playoffs. Therefore, although KG has the top lateral response and passing skills among the NBA's historical inside players, he cannot rely on his own offense to end the game. He is not a good single player, nor is he an axis that can attract double teams as soon as he gets the ball. It is difficult for him to succeed as a single offensive axis. He must be accompanied by a strong single player. For example, in the 2003-04 season, the Timberwolves introduced singles expert Spraywell and passer Sam Cassell for him, and the team reached the Western Conference Finals. For example, after he switched to the Celtics in the 2007-08 season, he had the offensive kaleidoscope Pierce and the big-hearted shooter Ray Allen around him, and the team eventually won the championship. This is the decisive gap between KG and well-known inside superstars such as Duncan. With Spraywell's declining state and Castle's constant injuries, KG seemed to be unable to carry the team alone. In the next three seasons, KG failed to make the playoffs. In these three seasons, KG played a total of 234 regular season games, with an attendance rate of over 95%. He only scored more than 35 points in three games, which is really a high score per year. However, if you think about it carefully, if you ignore the weakness of his own offensive attack, KG has almost no flaws in other aspects, and KG's off-ball positioning and pulling ability is very flexible, which is perfect once he becomes a secondary attacker. Whether it was in the 03-04 season when Huilang reached the Western Conference Finals or the subsequent 6 years in Serdic, he became the perfect lubricant on the offensive end of the team after unloading the main attack task.
His excellent vision determines that he is one of the best passers in NBA history, perhaps second only to Mr. Yo. As for his unparalleled rotation and defense ability, it has been clearly stated above. Therefore, in terms of technical type, he cannot be regarded as a top ball-holding boss, but he can become a strong assistant. When he accepts the role of the second-in-command, he can theoretically fit in perfectly with any lineup, whether it is playing a twin tower with Duncan or playing small with the Wave Brothers. The ball can perfectly connect the team's offense. For example, in the 07-08 season, Pierce and Ray Allen of the Celtics' championship team were responsible for scoring, while James was responsible for injecting defense, rebounding and lateral support. Although Pierce won FNBP in the finals, James was the defensive player of the year that year and the builder and core of the Celtics' defensive system. James quietly did everything except scoring. Looking at the history of the NBA, James is almost perfect as an all-around deputy like KG. There are many stars who can lead the whole team to take off with just one more ace of ball-holding offense, such as David Robinson and Pippen. Both their technical style and personal character determine that they can become top second-in-command, but their performance leading the team alone is difficult to be satisfactory. However, when they have super ball-holding attackers around them, everything is different. In March 1995, Pippen won back Jordan who returned from the baseball field, and opened the second three-peat from the next season. In the summer of 1997, Robinson waited for Duncan, a graduate of Wake Forest University, and won his first championship in his career when the latter was in his sophomore year. They never complained about the decline in their roles in the team. On the contrary, they saw the situation clearly and took the initiative to give up their core position, helping the team's strength rise to a new height, and they also received countless praises. A good team is truly good, and KG is a selfless teammate who will not hinder the team's operation by himself. People usually criticize him for taking over the game too little, but rarely criticize him for playing too selfishly. However, the best ball-handling attacker KG has ever worked with in his career may only be Piers, who is over 30 years old, which is very regrettable. If he had an assistant with such qualities earlier, would he have achieved more? Looking back at the 1998 All-Star Game, KG spent a glorious season with a young player wearing the No. 8 jersey and being selected as an All-Star for the first time. Interestingly, this young man, like KG, entered the league through the draft as a high school student. If they could successfully form a team at that time, the history of the NBA might have been rewritten.