While the modern NBA style has its fair share of fans, an equal number of people, especially former players and legends, do not like some aspects of the game. For Kevin Garnett, one simple matter of effort is his biggest pet peeve. He believes that most modern-day superstars suffer from the same problem, including the likes of LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Alongside Paul Pierce, The Big Ticket was ready to break it down in a harsh rant.

“It’s no extra effort, bro. You can see your favorite player and he don’t get the call, he might not run back, bro. And I’m talking about [Kevin] Durant, I’m talking about Bron, I’m talking about [Joel] Embiid, Giannis [Antetokounmpo].” It has become a trend in the NBA where players don’t get back on defense on time when they don’t get a call, which results in an easy basket for the opponents.

All of these superstars share a common thread of blame. “I now seen the best players in our game. If they don’t get the call, they’ll chill…I hate comparing the eras. But you had to be mentally f***ed up…You know what kind of animal you got to be to push through some pain.” That mentality needs to exist every play down the floor for KG.

The situation brought forth an interesting revelation from Paul Pierce. Despite having proven his mettle and toughness, The Truth had another horrifying incident where he pushed through for the sport. “We were fine tuned to where we don’t want to miss.”

“Remember the game in Atlanta, I drained my whole knee right there in the training room…He punctured a hole, my knee was swole. And I’m squeezing my knee and the liquid is coming out of it right before the game…I put a knee brace on because I was trained to like, ‘Nah, If I can walk, I can run.’ I took pride in being out there, though. I don’t want to show no weakness because this is my team.” 

That mentality is what led Pierce to have one of the greatest comebacks in NBA history.

The year Paul Pierce became The Truth

It was the summer of 2001. While the NBA was an exciting place, it wasn’t necessarily a safe one. At least, in the case of the Boston Celtics legend, it wasn’t. In a gruesome event, Paul was stabbed 11 times in the back. However, that “if I can walk, I can run” quote wasn’t just for show.

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Less than 2 weeks later, he was back on the court and would go on to play the entire 82-game schedule of the NBA season. During his awe-inspiring run, he would get The Truth nickname going up against the Los Angeles Lakers duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

With his teammate setting the ultimate standard, is KG right in calling out the modern-day superstars?

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