Given that Kevin Garnett was one of the most brutal trash talkers in the NBA, you do not get to see a lot of players mess with him. But in 1995, things were different because it was KG’s first year in the league. Before he joined the Minnesota Timberwolves, Garnett had his auditions, where he met Pat Riley. The Miami Heat president was a coach that many looked up to, but Garnett’s first interaction with Riley triggered him.  

Kevin Garnett released a new episode of his podcast KG Certified along with Paul Pierce. In one of the segments, the two legends spoke about their experience from the NBA draft. Garnett revealed, “I was going in there (audition), I was nervous and then you know, nobody here has done this… All of a sudden I heard Pat Riley say, ‘Come on, what the f*** are we doing in here? Got me waiting on a high school guy, oh come on. Start this s***’. And I swear to god, when he did this s***, I felt violated.” 

You might have heard KG do something like this to his opponents, but he didn’t like it when Riley did it to him. Garnett got furious. He was unable to control his anger. The Big Ticket continued, “You can see me go dark.” He decided to show his anger on the rim. “I dunked this s*** about nine times. It was making more demons come out of me.“

It went to an extent where Garnett was not able to get a hold of himself. His anger kept increasing until he met a former Boston Celtics star from the league.

Who helped Kevin Garnett get back to normal after getting violated by Pat Riley? 

If there was someone Garnett respected a lot, it was none other than Kevin McHale. The 3x Boston Celtics champion managed to get a hold of Garnett that day. KG said, “It took Kevin McHale to get in front of me“, to get him back to normal. McHale threw some compliments and advice which helped Garnett reduce his anger. 

“I ain’t shake nobody else hands, but him and that’s who drafted me“, said KG. Garnett was one of the very few basketball players who made it directly to the league after high school. He never played college basketball. Many felt he was ready for the league, but there was hesitation to draft him. Kevin McHale took the big step and drafted him as the 5th pick for the Minnesota Timberwolves when he worked for their front office. The rest is history.

However, McHale was doubtful too. He said in a previous interview, “I’m thinking, I can’t believe I’m drafting a high school guy, I’ve lost my mind, but I’m thinking this guy is gonna be really good.” KG made sure McHale made the right decision. If not for McHale, things might have sure gotten messy between Riley and Garnett. 

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