Posted in News
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11/3 2010

Kevin Garnett Needs Some PR Help. Introducing KG Motivational Posters

Posted by Dan Levy.

Kevin Garnett is taking some heat today for his comments calling Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva a “cancer patient” as part of his in-game trash talk. So, let the PR spin begin. Here’s a new motivational poster for Team Garnett, just in time for the holidays.

Before you get all “oh my God  you jerk, cancer isn’t funny” on me, keep this in mind. Cancer isn’t funny. Cancer is never funny. But making fun of a guy who put his foot in his mouth by saying something stupid — even if that something stupid is telling a guy with alopecia he has cancer — is always funny.

And while Garnett clearly did put his giant foot in his even bigger mouth, it was said in a far different context than any of us are used to. It’s still an inexcusable addition to his trash-talk repertoire, but as the Denver Post reported today, even cancer survivor George Karl understands that things said in the heat of the game can’t always be taken literally.

So philosophically, if Kevin and I were close friends, I’d probably call him up and say, ‘I don’t think that’s right (what you said).’ But I also believe that competition makes us do things when we don’t have our total mental morality in line. We act like children at times, even coaches.”

Gregg Doyel at CBS mentioned on Twitter how Garnett’s comment was especially disrespectful given that, “KG literally called Charlie V. a “cancer patient” the same day the starting DE at Mississippi State died of cancer”

But to expect an NBA player have that kind of sports context (that a sportswriter would have) — or to even know that happened — it totally unfair. We can rip KG for being insensitive or disrespectful or boorish, but there has to be a limit to it somewhere. If I said I hope you get hit by a bus today, and some college kid had already been hit by a bus this morning, does that make me more of an ass for suggesting it to you?

Anything is possible, I suppose.

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Posted on November 3, 2010 at 3:44PM

 

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