SYDNEY, Australia -- Way down here, when the games or practices end, Kevin Garnett is often staring at his shoes. Or shuffling nervously. Or mumbling, with his head bowed, when he does decide to speak.
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| Garnett was supposed to enjoy his summer Down Under, but he isn't. |
The chief of the Fun Police clearly isn't having any.
Very little fun, at the most. In between those off-the-backboard lob passes to Vince Carter and the occasional tip dunk against hapless, helpless Kiwis, there is too much time to think. Too much time for Garnett, typically one of the most engaging personalities in the game, to wonder when it will ever stop.
"Hell," Garnett calls it.
That's his to-the-point description of this tragic, unrelenting summer.
"To put it in a word," KG said again, "it's been hell."
Garnett has always been a sensitive soul, from the time he matriculated to the NBA as a still-raw teen in 1995. To this day, when the Timberwolves are introduced at the Target Center, Garnett leaves a seat empty to his left before his name is called. The chair stays unoccupied in deference to Eldrick Leamon, Garnett's close friend from South Carolina who was killed at age 18 in a motorcycle accident.
That was 1994. Fast forward to the new millennium and Garnett -- who has never and probably won't ever get over Leamon's death -- suddenly can't be sure who or what to mourn first.
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I'm trying not to think about things, but once I come back out of this rabbit hole, I know I'm going to have to deal with it. |
Foremost in his mind, of course, is the loss of Wolves teammate Malik Sealy. It was hours after Garnett's 24th birthday party in June that Sealy was killed when an intoxicated motorist veered into his lane, colliding head-on with Sealy's Jeep. Another loss, another lost Dogg, another tragedy to consume Garnett for the rest of his life.
Then, just as he was hoping to lose himself in the Olympics, Garnett's Wolves were found guilty of making secret promises to Joe Smith. Garnett knows that, by the time he returns to the States in about a week, Smith could be stripped from the Wolves' roster, meaning that a team never known as deep has lost two of its key contributors.
Plus, Garnett's mentor, Wolves GM Kevin McHale, could also be punished if proven to have a role in the Smith affair. When will it ever stop?
"1994 was a very tough year for me," Garnett says softly. "And now this is right up there."
He went on to describe the gold-medal pursuit as an "Alice in Wonderland" diversion from the real world, but his voice wasn't too convincing. While he remains unbelievably patient with reporters from all over the globe -- standing up for the perpetually dissed Dreamers in one instance by debating a pack of cynical Stateside columnists -- Garnett's distress isn't tough to pick out.
"He is sitting back a little bit," said Dream Team teammate Jason Kidd. "KG loves his teammates dearly. He loves anyone he plays with and he wears his emotions on his sleeve. We're trying to help him. A lot has happened to him this summer and one of our jobs here is to help him through that."
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| Smith |
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| Sealy |
Who could fault Garnett for fretting about what awaits him? Without Sealy and potentially sans Smith, and having bypassed trades for possible replacements such as Cedric Ceballos, Garnett and coach Flip Saunders are going to be very lonely in the Western Conference. Almost everyone, all the way down to the Clippers, improved themselves immensely out West, while the thin Wolves were pared to the bone.
"If I can't play with my Dogg, I'm going to have to live with it," Garnett said, this time bestowing the coveted Dogg tag on Smith, as he always does with Sealy. "I'm trying not to think about things, but once I come back out of this rabbit hole, I know I'm going to have to deal with it."
It being hell.
Dribbling in from Down Under
Informed sources indicate that the Wolves might not lose Joe Smith right away. One possibility is that Smith spends this season in Minnesota as his contract stipulates, then loses the right to re-sign with Team Garnett in the summer of 2001. In that scenario, Smith would also lose his Larry Bird rights at that time and, unless he has a monster season, be forced to scrounge for exceptions.
We've discovered that they do things a little differently in China. Yao Ming, the 7-5 center who has everyone's attention, was handed a clipboard and forced to keep track of God-knows-what after fouling out early in the second half against the United States. That won't happen to Yao when he gets to the NBA, which could happen by October 2001. It's expected that Yao, 20, will declare for the June draft, provided he gets the necessary clearance for his team in Shanghai and the Shanghai mayor. And there's already a groundswell among NBA executives -- with Philadelphia's Larry Brown as lead droolee -- that Yao will be the No. 1 overall pick next June. Brown can't stop talking about Yao's size, mobility, passing and shot-blocking ability.
Even from Australia, the Suns' Jason Kidd is keeping tabs on the Jake Tsakalidis situation. Regarding the London arbitration decision due Sept. 29 to determine whether Phoenix or AEK Athens has to right to employ Tsakalidis this season, Kidd said: "If we don't win, we don't get to see him for five years. If they want to see the kid succeed, they should let him go." Arbitration was required when the Suns' generous package offer -- the league's maximum-allowable $350,000, exhibition games in Greece, clinics and full support of Tsakalidis for the Greeks' 2004 Olympic team -- was snubbed.
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| Brunson |
Look for Knicks escapee Rick Brunson to sign with Miami this week as a backup to Tim Hardaway. Timmy, meanwhile, has offered little explanation for his sudden willingness to accept a one-year deal from the Heat when he wanted three. "That's the way it's just got to be," said Hardaway, comforted somewhat, of course, by the $12 million.
Seattle's Vin Baker is another Dreamer who has forgiven his team in a hurry (thanks to the Sonics getting Patrick Ewing without dealing him at the same time). "I still think there has to be some communication between me and the Sonics when I get back," Baker said. "But it's just a wrinkle now." More Vin: "I can finally play my natural position. Patrick's a great basketball player, he obviously puts us back in the hunt in the West."
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| Mullin |
There was some chatter in Dream Team circles last week that free-agent forward Chris Mullin was about to sign a one-year deal with his beloved Warriors, with a move into the front office to follow. Not so, Golden State says. Mullin works out regularly with friends at the Warriors' practice facility but is determined to spend his final season with a championship contender that can give him more minutes than Indiana did. Did someone say Lakers? LA still has its exceptions, don't forget ($2.25 million and $1 million). Mullin, especially, would do well in Phil Jackson's offense, if not Phil Jackson's defense.
If you're a Knicks fan, and you're wondering who's going to be playing center for your team in the future ... better keep praying for that Dikembe Mutombo pipe-dream, follow-up deal to the Patrick Ewing extravaganza. From what we've seen at the Olympics, Luc Longley is in no position to help the Knicks. "He always leaves you wanting more," said one prominent NBA observer in attendance. In Longley's defense (or is that defence?), lots of Australians have looked out of sorts during the Boomers' disappointing 0-2 start. Either way, looks like Longley is bound for the barbie, er, frequent torchings by the NY tabloids.
As for France's Frederic Weis, uh, absolument pas. For those of you who don't speak French, that roughly translates to ... no freakin' way. Weis is pretty good at being tall; everything else about his game looks as escargot as you've heard. "Why kill me before I get there?" Weis asked earlier this week. Too late, Freddy. He might be the worst top-15 pick ever, as you'll all soon see when footage of Monday's Vince Carter next poster makes it home.
Anyone else notice, in that Dream Team-New Zealand nailbiter, how Kiwis point guard Mark Dickel of UNLV plays like a Jason Williams clone? Dickel's handles, his passes, even the two-handed release on his jumper ... all reminiscent of JWill. Apparently, Dickel doesn't realize that might not be such a good thing.
Perhaps no name anywhere in the basketball universe raises eyebrows like Gregor Fucka, the Italian center who didn't back down from Alonzo Mourning. Now it's time you learned how to pronounce it. Get your minds out of the gutter, friends: It's Fooch-kah.
Marc Stein, who covers the NBA for The Dallas Morning News, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
