Kevin Garnett offered context behind viral clip of playing Team USA one-on-one
Garnett explained how intense the U.S. preparations were for the 2000 Olympics.
As Celtics Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday prepare to help Team USA try to defend its gold medal in the upcoming Paris Olympics, one of the team’s former stars reflected on some of the more grueling training methods back in 2000.
Kevin Garnett, who not only helped the Celtics win the 2008 NBA title but also led the U.S. to gold medal glory at the Sydney Summer Games, shared his thoughts on a video that recently emerged showing him playing fellow teammates in one-on-one full-court competition.
The video was shared earlier in July by NBA History, gaining traction on social media as fans were fascinated by the throwback footage. Garnett initially replied on Twitter, calling for USA basketball to “get some ones in.”
In a clip recently posted by his YouTube channel, Garnett offered more context behind the video in a conversation with Paul Pierce.
“We had a thing where we would practice, and then after practice guys would — you know, on their own — get running [in], whatever. So [Jason] Kidd had a drill called ‘one-on-one full-court,’ and you have to meet at half-court,” said Garnett of his 2000 U.S. teammates.
Explaining the basic rules behind the drill, Garnett noted that unlike many other U.S. practices from that time, it was filmed.
“What nobody knew was that the camera man was in the corner kind of ducked off [to the side] recording us,” he said. “We were just getting it in. We went three games, and what he got was the first game.”
Even with no stakes, the players faced off with immense intensity. Given that Garnett was involved, it was also no surprise that there was a healthy amount of trash-talking.
“You know there was a bunch of [expletive] talking,” he acknowledged. One matchup with Shareef Abdur-Rahim almost got out of hand. Eventually, U.S. coaches had to shut it down.
“Me and [Shareef] almost got to fighting,” said Garnett. “As we got deeper into those games, it got more intense, so much that Larry Brown had to take the ball. Rudy [Tomjanovich] had to shut the gym down and get us out of there, because it started really getting into like some personal parts.”
The preparations paid off, as the U.S. fulfilled expectations by winning yet another gold, defeating France in the final.
Looking to the current U.S. team, Garnett said he would enjoy seeing them play some one-on-one full-court, citing LeBron James and Steph Curry as two potential favorites to win the competition.
“I would love to be able to see something like that,” he said. “It’s just some extra work. It was something where we were all just messing around, having some fun by actually pushing each other and trying to make each other better. That was one of the more fun times that I’ve had in the summer in preparing for a season and getting ready to play for my country.”
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