The 1995 NBA draft made it a significant one for two major reasons. The historic event took place in Toronto, making it the first NBA draft to take place outside the United States. Secondly, Kevin Garnett was picked fifth in the draft, making him the first high-school graduate to enter the NBA since 1975.
Garnett’s jump from high-school to the NBA opened up the door for a lot of players in the future. High-school talent Kobe Bryant declared himself eligible the very next year. In 2003, LeBron James shocked the league with his talents as he forewent college and joined the NBA upon graduating from high-school.
A few months ago, SHOWTIME Basketball published a first look video of Kevin Garnett’s new documentary. The clip is just to give us a glimpse of the “bold” documentary that is expected to release by Fall 2020. In the teaser, Garnett shares an interesting anecdote from his pre-draft workout days.
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When Pat Riley fired up a young Kevin Garnett
Garnett graduated from Farragut Academy, which is in Chicago, Illinois. Being a teenage Chicagoan, Garnett could not fly out to different cities to participate in workouts. In fact, the idea of getting into the NBA did not cross the high-schooler until Isiah Thomas saw him play and motivated him.
So, at a workout session in Chicago, newly appointed Miami Heat president Patt Riley was asked to come and watch Garnett showcase his talent. At one point, Riley’s frustration grew due to the fact that they asked to assess a high-school kid. Riley started ranting, as per Garnett.
“I heard Pat Riley like, ‘Come on, what the fu** is this? Got me watching a high school guy?’” Garnett shares in the teaser of his upcoming documentary. These words apparently fired up a young KG and he began performing crazy dunks in front of Pat Riley.
In the teaser, Garnett says he dunks around 7-8 times and moreover directed a strong message towards Riley. “Moth**fuc***, fu** you mean why you in here?” Though Garnett might have added some cream to the story, it showed his courage in not backing down when a legendary personality mocked him.
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Yesterday, June 28 marked the 25th anniversary of Garnett’s draft pick. A Twitter user shared the teaser to commemorate the NBA champion’s career. The post received widespread attention and current Celtics star Jayson Tatum shared the video on his twitter feed and wrote, “No lie yo I love KG!! Real Killa!!!”
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— Jayson Tatum (@jaytatum0) June 29, 2020