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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Garnett May Be Gem, But A Rough Cut At Best

Harvey Araton New York Times

After months of grumbling about irresponsible neophytes tainting pro basketball, there was a season-ending tribute Wednesday night to the contradictory nature of the sport. A teenager, weeks removed from his high school prom, became the focal point of the NBA draft.

Every 20 minutes, there was another fresh rumor involving a team trying to “trade up” for a shot at Kevin Garnett, 19, who terrorized Chicago high schoolers this past season at Farragut Academy.

Some league people called Garnett the best player in the draft. Some heralded him as a taller version of Scottie Pippen. Some envisioned the 6-foot-11-inch prodigy playing all five positions.

One wondered if these evaluators were raving prophecy or lunacy. Garnett may have the physical gifts to become a multidimensional star but no one can possibly know what he’s capable of, within two years or 10.

Of how he might he react to men who just as tall and 50 pounds heavier than him. To handling the ball under pressure. To unforgiving coaches. To the grandiose expectations for a top draft choice in the NBA. To a humbling beating. To booing. To traveling. To temptation.

No one knows about any of the players drafted Wednesday night at the Skydome, not even Joe Smith, who was taken first by Golden State.

Smith is only 10 months older than Garnett, but he at least played two years at Maryland and is being ably represented by Len Elmore, a former player and graduate of Harvard Law.

In the lobby of the Westin Hotel on Tuesday afternoon, Garnett - encumbered only by the diamondstudded ring he said was his high school graduation gift - was already surrounded by a posse of friends from Chicago, including one who lugged his bags as he checked in.

Since it was North Carolina’s Jerry Stackhouse being hailed as the next you-know-who, a Jordanesque entourage seemed a bit premature for Garnett. But after what Garnett has been hearing, should it be any surprise that he would have a distorted notion of the pecking order?

“I keep hearing all these teams would like to have me,” he said. “It’s exciting.”

He seems like a nice, chatty kid, who looks you in the eye and sounds sincere when he says he would have studied at one of our great institutions of higher dribbling if only he’d met the scholastic requirements.

The NBA made it easy for him to get over that disillusion. The scouts flocked to his games and sent word that he was ready for a little oneon-one with Hakeem, Shaq and the image-makers.

In fact, Garnett and four sophomores were projected as the top five picks Wednesday night, most of these not-ready-for-prime time players likely to become the most valuable asset of a bad NBA team. That’s never a promising marriage, and not situation likely to be remedied by a three-year cap on rookie salaries.

The owners want to put a lid on the mega-deals handed rookies in recent years, and even the players agree it’s gotten out of hand. But the proposed give-back - unrestricted free agency once their contracts have expired - may prove to be worse.

The hardline owners must be thinking that the luxury tax they are prepared to go to war over would stifle movement and force the young players to re-sign with the teams that drafted them for small pay increases.

Guess again. If this Garnett hysteria proves anything, it is that teams will do backflips for the gifted and talented. They will unclutter their rosters, fill up the end of the bench with minimum salaries, make room for the young star.

If Kevin Garnett can really play, how much power and leverage does he have in a couple of years when he’s 21 and looking at selling himself to the highest bidder? What general manager risks crossing such a player when he blows off practice? Remember, Chris Webber rocked a league used to its superstars staying put, a major fanfriendly benefit the NBA has enjoyed.

“I know I’d rather go to a team which wants me to grow with it, not move around,” said Shawn Respert, the Michigan State shooting guard whom the Nets had their eye on.

He was speaking as a graduated senior with a communications degree, as a young adult with some understanding of commitment and growth. Kevin Garnett, raised in South Carolina, was placed at Farragut Academy for one year to hone his game against tough city kids. Now he’s supposed to be an NBA franchise player-in-training. Good luck to his coach.