If you really want to get the attention of the kids, you’ve got to drop a couple of f-bombs.
NBA legend Kevin Garnett, who played for the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Boston Celtics (and the Brooklyn Nets, but that was a dark time) during his career, was one of many former players to travel to Australia last week for the NBAxNBL Melbourne Series.
The weekend was an effort to reach out to fans “Down Under,” and even included a couple of exhibition games between the New Orleans Pelicans and two different NBL teams (Melbourne United and South East Melbourne Phoenix). There was also a moment where Garnett and other former NBA players participated in a Q&A session.
Which brings us to this viral video.
The 15-time NBA All-Star, who won an NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008, was speaking at the event’s “Fan Night,” which had plenty of families in attendance. Kids of all ages were there to take in the basketball action, and hear from some legends of the game.
At one point, Kevin Garnett was asked what his message would be to all of the youth in the stands. And I don’t know if KG forgot who his audience was, or just simply got caught up in the moment, but this is what he ended up saying. Needless to say, I bet a lot of parents were plugging up their kid’s ears as Garnett went on a short, profanity-laced monologue about how kids should chase their dreams:
“My message to every kid in here is I don’t care what anybody tells you. F*** ’em. If you love it, you believe in it, you believe in yourself, you chase that s***, you hear me? I couldn’t have gotten any of these jerseys if I didn’t chase this. So you chase your dreams, you hear me? And whoever tells you no, f*** ’em.”
@extrapointnation In a room full of kids is crazy unc 💀 #kevingarnett #nba #nbl #basketball ♬ original sound – Extra Point
Absolute cinema to start a speech with “my message to every kid in here” and then follow that up with three separate, emphasized curse words. One thing is for sure… all of the kiddos in there are never going to forget the hype-up speech they heard from Kevin Garnett. Maybe that’s what the former basketball player was going for?
Part of me thinks that was a straight-up disaster. The other part puts the naivety to the wayside and knows that most kids have probably heard far worse. Will it start a tough conversation at home with keeping cursing to a minimum and children using the “Well Kevin Garnett said it” excuse? I’d venture to say that’s likely.
But hey… if you give Garnett a microphone, we should know by this point that anything is possible:
