He’s been doing it since he joined the league – 14 years. That’s not old, I think. I mean, Oden is like 26 years older than KG’s antics and you call him a young promise.

Second, this is Bill Russell club. We’re in the business of winning, just got back to it recently; not in popularity contest. As long as KG’s antics fires up the Garden crowd, his teammates, and allows us to get under the opponents skins, I’m all for it.

Finally, the idea that Larry Legend was classy is laughable. Bird was one of the cheapest SOBs to play the game. He just backed it up. Just like KG.

I must be mistaken because I think you just claimed to be able to speak for all NBA players and fans. All the people I know (C’s fans and non-C’s fans alike) love KG. I guess that means everyone loves him. It doesn’t take long for people to jump all over a winner (see: New England Patriots).

If you think Larry was classier (nicer to his opponents) than Kevin, try reading the book “Bird” by Lee Daniel Levine. Larry was a trash talking, in-your-face player who could back up his taunts! Larry also let his team mates know when they were coasting….

Everyone loved him (including me) because he was a winner and insisted that his team be a winner, too. He made his team mates better by insisting that they be better and was just as hard on himself. (Remember when he hit the floor face first, then returned to the game to lead the team…which had lost the spark….to victory?

KG is the same kind of player and has been proving it for years. Now he has a team that is capable of winning and he won’t allow them to lose sight of the goal.

Know what’s funny? Before last season everyone was on the KG wagon… all throughout the NBA. The consensus was, “Nobody deserves it more than KG. He wants it more than anyone… a true competitor who goes against the grain of common NBA superstars and legitimately cares. I want to see KG win a ring”… and now the idea seems to be building that KG is, “a big mouth showboat… rubs it in, acts like a clown”. What changed?

I’ll tell you what changed. We won the 2008 Title and all these other team fans have become a bunch of jealous crybaby whiners. Wha, wha you sad sacks. It’s typical. People hate winners. KG’s a winner now so you little babies are crawling out of the woodwork and sniffling at his “antics”.

Know what DOESN’T Get old? This team’s constant focus, commitment to excellence and our 19-2 record.

If this crybaby can’t handle it… go crawl in a corner with the ridiculous wha-wha Toronto Raptor fans and drown in your own tears.

Didn’t these same baby Portland fans come crying last year that KG “intimidated” their younger players? Give me a break. I love the Blazers and they are the only team I consistently watch other than the Celtics (I live in Seattle). But the transparent jealousy couldn’t be more obvious. Someday Portland will be a legit contender… you have plenty of time. But don’t pee your panties over the expressive dominance of a team that has your number for now. Most of KG’s antics are to fire himself up and to keep his team focused as well. If you saw it from the perspective of winning-tinted glasses, you’d get it.

i dunno bout you guys, but I still have the game saved on my DVR. I’m going to go watch it… so I can savor the victory again while thinking of the sulking Blazer fans throwing a tantrum in the midst of their defeat. Oh sweet, sweet victory.

FYI… I love the Blazer team… but these Blazer fans are the same sniveling brats who like to gloat on their own messageboard about how they “shafted” Danny Ainge out of Brandon Roy and “robbed them” of Greg Oden… and speculated that Ainge has some ulterior motive to “get payback” when he gave Darius Miles a quick look.

Spin it out how you want, you little Blazer punks. For the time being we got your number. Come back when the lads grow up and the fans can handle some intense competition.

Why do you think KG did it? There would be a lot less whining if your team ignored it or stood up to it. It works so why would KG stop and why should he because he is hurting fans of oppsing teams feelings? Being hated because you win, I think KG will take that over being a lovable loser. Celtics are 19-2 on a 11 game winning streak. Winning isn’t always about being ‘nice’ Blazers need to toughen up along with a few other teams such as the Raptors.

A fool with a ring. I don’t think he will ever feel like a fool and I still don’t think he is disrespecting the game. I guess the legends of the game were also disrespectful then too because they talked trash etc.?

If the Blazers win a championship acting like complete gentleman, let me know.

Garnett has played with so much fire and passion in this league throughout his whole career. In these times where the NBA is so washed out of emotions by the league through technicals and fines, it’s a nice change to see a player that still shows all his emotions, despite bogus consequences

What a waste of time reading this crap.

Why do people care if players trash talk? It has been apart of the game since the beginning. It is not going to change.

Is because it seems like a double standard. Oden hangs on the rim, and gets a tech for taunting (Which I agree w/, it is something he needs to learn not to do) but getting down on all four is not taunting?

Good point. Ask the refs. They are inconsistent most of the time it seems.

First and foremost I am a huge Celtics fan and have been since I was five years old and first introduced to the team through a televised game. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Celtics return to prominence in the NBA and win their league-leading 17th Banner over the much despised rival Lakers.
Second I am a fan of the NBA and basketball as a whole and really got into following the league overall after I turned 10. Since then I’ve never been able to get enough of the sport. Kevin Garnett’s “antics” are and have been something he has been doing since Day 1 on the court. They are no different than Larry Bird trash-talking and picking fights, Jordan criticizing teammates, McHale bullying smaller opponents, or any of the trash-talking and bullying that has gone on in recent years. (see LeBron v Stevenson) It is all about trying to gain the mental and emotional advantage while getting yourself, your teammates, and the crowd even more focused and hyped-up.
Therefore this argument has become rather petty and stupid. All of various comparisons to the Jail Blazers are ridiculous because KG has always been courteous to the fans and has never had the poor off-the-court decision making of the likes of Rider, Wells, Stoudemire, and Randolph. Is Rasheed a hot-head? Yes, is he a necessarily bad person? No… everyone makes mistakes and he has gotten a lot better since joining the Pistons. Have the Blazers cleaned up their image? And will they most likely be title contenders down the road?? Yes to both and congrats for rebuilding a team of stand-up players with positive attitudes.
In turn KG has a positive attitude and his antics are reflection of his ridiculously high emotional intensity. The antics are the same as LeBron or any other player beating his chest after wicked dunks or blocks. It’s old news and has been and will continue to be a part of the NBA. Get over it and enjoy your team. Stop focusing so much on the truly minor aspects of players, which do not in anyway hurt the view of the NBA. And start focusing on the knuckleheads that cause tremendous amounts of problems BOTH on and off the court. This level of getting into the oppositions heads has been around forever, will continue to be a part of basketball as a whole, and can been seen at every level. Heck, I play DIII college ball and even on this level people will do anything to get under the oppositions skins. Because putting teams out of their rhythm without being ridiculously disrespectful to all those involved. And since the powergroup behind the NBA has not cracked down on KG or any other player who displays this type of behavior, more than they already have, shows that the league believes that it isn’t hurting the game either.
Three other side notes. 1) KG mixes it up with everyone, usually finding the weakest link to “attack” mentally, since a team is only as strong and good as it’s weakest member. See his ordeal with Zaza Pachulia in last years playoffs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULFIglte2b0
Not only did KG take responsibility for the foul he also didn’t allow his emotions to get out of hand.
2) The Miles signing was about trying to find a possible replacement for James Posey, who had the length and scoring ability to make an impact. It was also highly publicized as a move that would hopefully resurrect both Mile’s career and image. It was in no way a chance for the Celtics to get back at Portland for getting Roy or Oden. This should be even more evident now because while Portland has both players and will be great (hopefully getting a couple of rings) the Celtics returned to their winning ways, and have done so in a manner that Boston fans of all ages respect and relate to.
3) It is amazing how different fans relate to players and gain respect for those players… usually teams will emulate the attitude of the city they play in. Boston is a cold city, the birthplace of the Sons of Liberty, and the place where the Revolution first started… this hard-nosed, in-your-face, blatant way of handling things has always been the Bostonian and Northeastern (MA, NH, ME, VT, CT, RI) way of getting business done. Just get over it and enjoy the actually basketball that is being played.

I’m real tired of winning Championships. I just wish KG would stop this stuff. Seriously, all players have different ways of getting themselves going. What KG does is his way. Ray does it differently as does PP, Perk and Rondo, etc. It’s not personal. The guys that don’t have a way to get themselves going post on this Blog (no disrespect meant) or don’t play NBA basketball, at least not very well. Patrick O’Bryant, who we all complain about so much, needs a KG transfusion or else he may not last the year. Larry, who was referred to above, was a great trash talker. It wasn’t noticed, it wasn’t personal, but how would you like to be the one defending Bird, have Bird tell you the play and his part in it, and then do it to you again and again? Larry Bird is my hero, but he was known to curse some. The Celtics don’t like people, especially kids to come to their practices. I had a friend who knew someone who worked for the C’s and got him and his son into a Celtic practice when Bird was playing. Larry was very nice to the child when the practice was over, but during the workout the kid’s vocabulary grew immensely, much of the teaching done by Bird. I think we’re making too big a deal of KG and his “act”. (It’s not an act, it’s passion for the game, emotion and intensity). And KG just wears all this on his sleeve. Ray Allen bottles it up. No big deal.

99% of the people that make judgments on this stuff base it off limited exposure to what they speak of. We all do it. And in this case, the OP is just wrong or bitter. KG did stuff like this when he was on Minnesota and nobody noticed… now he’s on a winner, under the microscope, and every hates it all of a sudden.

And I’m not exactly sure how you draw a line between trash talking and disrespecting an opponent. Trash talking IS disrespecting an opponent, and there’s really no argument to be had on that matter.

Give me a break. Guess the legends of the game disrespected as well. Also KG has been doing this before he was in Boston. The bias against him since he won is pretty ridiculous. KG has not changed the perception of those who can’t call him a ‘loveable loser’ anymore is all that has changed.

As has been said ‘Everbody hates a winner’ If you don’t want that label I guess you better not succeed as a champion.

I get that some opposing fans don’t like it. But disrespectful of the game? A game full of trash talking and a past that the NBA has? Who are you to judge what is or isn’t respectful.

Give me a break. Going on all fours is not hurting anyone. If he was throwing punches I would agree.

All it does is make opponants fans whine for days about it on a Celtics blog instead of whining about it where it belings on a Blazers blog, that is annoying. It is getting quite old. You are not going to change Celtics fans mind on their board.

170 comments now. Ridiculous!

You are a jerk. But who is the one that started this thread in the ina Celtics area expecting Celtics fans to agree. I am only responding to you and you Blazer trolls. I apparently have to repeat myself. Thanks for starting this, congrats.

I don’t bother to correct myself and my typos in a blog. Also thanks for wasting time and counting every post i made responding to the trolls. That must of been well worth your time.

Sorry, when I am singled out I respond. I will refrain from now on.

Yes, it does.

Was KG “trying to get himself going” or “trying to mess with the opponents’ minds to throw them off their game”? No, he was not. The game was over, it was a blowout.

He targeted Bayless twice, once with the dog thing after a dunk and again by getting in his face after the double-dribble call.

OK, an MVP is so afraid of a 3rd string PG that he needs to try to mess with his mind in a blowout? Twice? Give me a break. It was taunting. And taunting a beaten opponent is classless, and in violation of the league’s rules. That it is a star like KG doing it to a 3rd stringer just makes it more classless. And I would venture that most Boston fans know it.

KG is too good, he doesn’t need that kind of rubbish.

If Bayless had lost his cool and popped KG in the nose, it would have been a double-technical, because no one could claim there hadn’t been provocation. In that case, it should have been a technical for taunting. End of story.

If you don’t enforce the taunting rule, you will have fights, and Mr. Stern will wring his hands and declaim how bad it is that players don’t control themselves. Mr. Stern, it lies at your door. Either enforce the rule, or have the honesty to admit you aren’t going to, and strike it off.

Why does a great win for Boston have to be messed up with this kind of stuff? What’s the point? You whipped our tails, you showed our kids what a great team does, you taught them a lesson. Mega-kudos. Why pollute it with taunting? It just creates bad blood.

I guarantee there’s a lot of Blazer fans who want to see KG get injured, now. If he gets hurt in Portland, there will be people who cheer. Well, that’s really good for the game, isn’t it? Should they have that attitude? Of course not. But if they do, KG has brought it on himself, and the NBA’s failure to enforce their rule is going to damage the league.

Interesting Blazers fans think that taunting is so horrible they would cheer KG getting hurt? That makes them worse then anything KG ever did to the Blazers. KG does not deserve that. KG did not bring that kind of behavior on. If true I have lost respect for Blazers fans and they don’t deserve to have this ‘holier then thou’ attitude that he is ‘dispespecting’ the game.

What is your problem? Geesh.

How about other teams do the same thing KG is doing? That would be just ‘punishment’ not cheering for him to get injured. That is taking it too far. I don’t think THAT is too hard to understand. It’s called a typo last time I checked. Guess that is too hard for you to understand. People want players to be nice and yet it seems they can’t even act that way.

KG has done it multiple times and the league has not called a tech on him. Maybe part of it is that just about everytime KG does it without fail the other team scores 2. If it bugs you this much write the front office a letter, and let them know. Complaining about here, 4 days later is not going to do anything.

Ok, but I don’t think the league office sits around reading blogs either. But who knows?