There were very few players who could make their opponents feel genuinely helpless. Kevin Garnett, at his peak, was one such devastatingly impactful superstar. Now, a former NBA superstar has made a bold case for where Garnett's best season belongs in the all-time power forward debate.
Tracy McGrady reflected on Garnett's elite play and concluded that he didn't fall short of the best, even alongside the likes of Charles Barkley and Tim Duncan.
"It goes back to that 2003-04 season with KG," McGrady said on his 'Cousins' Podcast with Vince Carter . "I just felt like he was the baddest man on the planet. Like, nobody couldn't touch him."
While McGrady recognized the greatness of Duncan and Barkley, two legends in their own right, he believed that Garnett didn't fall short.
The 2003-04 season was when Garnett dominated. He averaged a career-high 24.2 ppg and 13.9 rpg that season and took home his one-and-only MVP award. McGrady recalled being unable to contain KG despite being an established NBA star and an accomplished defender himself at the time.
"I'm pretty good defensively when, you know, I have somebody that I know I got to lock in on this dude. I don't give a d*mn what type of locking hand I did on him. It didn't matter."
Carter highlighted what made Garnett such an unusual matchup for opposing defenses. Standing nearly seven feet tall, KG possessed the ball-handling and shooting ability of a perimeter player.
He could take defenders off the dribble, create his own shot from the midrange, and operate comfortably away from the basket. That versatility made him difficult to contain, even for elite defenders.
"One of the first seven-footers to play small forward because of his handle and jump shooting," Carter said.
Garnett's patented turn-away jumper had McGrady and Carter recalling nightmare scenarios from that year. During the 2003-04 season, he was lethal with that shot and from midrange in general, hitting 46% of his looks from 10-16 feet and 44.8% from 16 feet to the three-point line.
On the other side of the floor, Garnett was equally great, averaging a career-high 2.2 blocks per game along with 1.5 steals per game that year.
What makes that year so much more impactful is that Garnett led the Timberwolves to the No. 1 seed with a 58-24 record and to their first-ever Western Conference Finals appearance in the 2004 playoffs.
While reflecting on Duncan's greatness, McGrady acknowledged that he achieved the most in his career. T-Mac called him the "best by circumstance," highlighting his 5 championship rings and the incredible Spurs dynasty that he led.
However, despite acknowledging Duncan and Barkley's impact on the court, he insisted that Garnett had his own claim to the title of greatest power forward.
"But Ticket, bro. Do you know what this man be, used to do on the basketball court? Sh*t that Tim Duncan can't do, Charles Barkley can't do."
McGrady added that however people want to judge elite players, whether by talent, rings, impact, or stats, Garnett is among the best, if not the best. T-Mac insists that he cannot "definitively" name 5 power forwards greater than KG.
Duncan's five championships and Barkley's individual dominance have helped cement their places among the greatest power forwards in NBA history. However, McGrady believes that Garnett's impact deserves equal, if not greater, recognition in this debate.
His ability to influence virtually every aspect of the game made him a nightmare matchup, even for some of the league's best players. And having experienced that firsthand, McGrady isn't willing to put many names ahead of the Timberwolves legend.
Whether Garnett deserves to be called the greatest power forward ever remains a debate, but McGrady has made his position clear. For him, KG isn't simply among the greats to ever play the position. He's right there at the very top.
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