Kevin Garnett topps rookie card boom

[Totalpackage]

Originally Posted by i4gotmyid

You must have definitely tuned out, because Garnett had to be convinced to leave Minnesota, he was the furthest thing from a mercenary.

As far as 3-4 year run...9x all NBA, 12x All-D, sprinkle in a MVP, Championship and DPOY, but only a 3-4 year run? Come on...

So then you are probably going to say "team success", but have you looked at the top 25 players in Timberwolves history? Most played during his era...names like Wally-world? Guggs? Sam the alien Cassell? Starbury? Old man Spree? Those were his 2nd best players during his tenure...not exactly a championship supporting cast...

We can't expect everybody to be Garnett's hardcore fan since he's only a Celtics fan, but even a Celtics fan has to be thankful for Garnett's present in the team which he was the reason that Celtics won their title in 2008 and kept the team in championship competition for several years.

[Dame]

Originally Posted by Pathora

The main problem with Chrome and Finest cards from Mid 90's is I expect all of them to go green eventually. You don't have to worry about that with the Topps Base RC.

I actually expect the gap to shrink or see KG's Topps move ahead of the Finest, along with Kobe's closing the gap to the Chrome.

The greening has not stopped Kobe’s TC issues from soaring, same with Duncan’s. Not sure if this even matters considering how much money are tied on those PSA 9 and 10’s.

[bruin805]

Originally Posted by Luni

As far as rarer KG rookie year cards, I think these are all very sweet cards (in no particular order):

Collector's Choice - Base RC Player's Club Platinum (1:35 - Series 2)
E-XL - Natural Born Thrillers (1:48)
Hoops - Grant's All-Rookie Team (1:64 - Series 2)
SP Championship - Champions of the Court Die-Cut (1:75)
SP Championship - Championship Shots Gold (1:62)
Topps - NBA Draft Redemption
Upper Deck - Base RC Electric Court Gold (1:35 Series 2 Retail)
Upper Deck - Special Edition Gold (1:35 Series 2 Hobby)

Some eye candy:

I've got the Upper Deck Electric Court Gold at PSA right now. Pulled from a pack in 1995 and immediately put it in a screwdown holder (I didn't know any better 26 years ago). Recently found it again and I was sending a few things to PSA in a group sub so I figured I'd throw in the KG card. Has a decent shot at a 9, I'd be overjoyed at a 10 but I always assume they'll never gem.

[mrb842]

Originally Posted by Luni

We'll just have to agree to disagree. Sure he isn't as iconic as a Celtic as players like Bird, Russell, etc... but he did go to the Celtics (worst team in the league in 07) and win a championship in 08 which is pretty special. Also, obviously I'm a bit biased being a KG fan but anyone who actually watched him in Minnesota knows he was a top 1-5 player in the entire league for quite a stretch. Yes they underperformed, but that's what happens when your best teammates were Wally and Terrell Brandon for the longest time.

Anyway, all I'm trying to get across is that KG has some lifetime fans from the Minnesota days and I'm one of them. I know he isn't at the level of MJ, LeBron, Kobe, etc.. but he was my favorite and hardest working player I got to watch growing up. Also, the following stat isn't half bad:

Kevin Garnett is the only NBA player to reach at least 25,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 5,000 assists, 1,500 steals and 1,500 blocks.

I'm glad we had him and won in 08, but it was a short run, and this is the celtics not detroit or philly or some franchise with a few iconic players and rings.

[Kingschwab4215]

If you’re simply talking about who the better player was between KG and Kobe, it’s KG somewhat clearly. Both talking heads and the common man have no idea how to evaluate players and are too consumed by winning bias. Ben Taylor does a better job of outlining it in his top 40 rankings, which I’ve read every link of.

https://backpicks.com/2017/12/11/the...n-nba-history/

[DajuanWagner]

50 bucks for KG Topps rookies.......love what's happening...........

[ljandkg]

Originally Posted by Kingschwab4215

If you’re simply talking about who the better player was between KG and Kobe, it’s KG somewhat clearly. Both talking heads and the common man have no idea how to evaluate players and are too consumed by winning bias. Ben Taylor does a better job of outlining it in his top 40 rankings, which I’ve read every link of.

https://backpicks.com/2017/12/11/the...n-nba-history/

This needs it's own thread.

World War 3 would break out but it'd be worth it for the shits and giggles....

[elp11]

Originally Posted by mrb842

I'm glad we had him and won in 08, but it was a short run, and this is the celtics not detroit or philly or some franchise with a few iconic players and rings.

What are you even saying? I thought your last comment was bad but this is possibly worse? Philly had arguably just as many, if not more iconic players than Boston. C’mon man, wtf are you saying?

[rustywest]

Originally Posted by Tallboy

Do you realize how condescending you're coming off here?

Honestly, if you had stuck simply to talking about stuff like rarity and investment potential I'd have assumed it wasn't directed toward me, but you led with "isn't even close to the best looking", and no one in this thread is talking about this as much as me. And I've already acknowledged that aesthetics are a subjective thing and tried to encourage people to come out and share why they love a particular card particularly if they see things different from me.

So if you feel passionate about the designs of other cards, please speak to that. Explain why what you see/feel resonates with you.

Do you realize how insecure you sound?

Don't be such a queen - Yaaaass Queen!

Heed your own advice, relax and just understand this is just my opinion.

It was in zero way directed toward you, its about this nonsensical craze that Topps 'PSA 10' base card is the King of all base where in most cases it is not, not in almost any of my criteria. 92/93 is acceptable, 08/09 is acceptable and begrudgingly 96/97 barely acceptable. 95/96? No chance.

Since you poked me, I'll add in that all that waffle about the Topps card capturing the essence of KG's intensity is a massive stretch, its a so so picture of KG crouching on D. The Upper Deck card on the other hand? That's another story, that's a shot that is KG...

[mrb842]

Originally Posted by elp11

What are you even saying? I thought your last comment was bad but this is possibly worse? Philly had arguably just as many, if not more iconic players than Boston. C’mon man, wtf are you saying?

He's not in the top 20 all time in scoring in boston. The celtics have something like 35 guys who've worn the uniform who are now in the hall of fame and I just don't feel that strongly about him. His wolves teams never really got out of the first round. To me I associate him more w/the timberwolves than our organization. Walker, Pierce, Reggie Lewis, Rondo, Eric Williams even, maybe eventually tatum and brown, to me those are bigger celtics over the last 30 years. Corey Dillon is a Bengal to me. Same thing.

[Chris P]

Originally Posted by mrb842

He's not in the top 20 all time in scoring in boston. The celtics have something like 35 guys who've worn the uniform who are now in the hall of fame and I just don't feel that strongly about him. His wolves teams never really got out of the first round. To me I associate him more w/the timberwolves than our organization. Walker, Pierce, Reggie Lewis, Rondo, Eric Williams even, maybe eventually tatum and brown, to me those are bigger celtics over the last 30 years. Corey Dillon is a Bengal to me. Same thing.

Eric Williams..🤣🤣🤣...man what a joke

[Totalpackage]

Originally Posted by mrb842

He's not in the top 20 all time in scoring in boston. The celtics have something like 35 guys who've worn the uniform who are now in the hall of fame and I just don't feel that strongly about him. His wolves teams never really got out of the first round. To me I associate him more w/the timberwolves than our organization. Walker, Pierce, Reggie Lewis, Rondo, Eric Williams even, maybe eventually tatum and brown, to me those are bigger celtics over the last 30 years. Corey Dillon is a Bengal to me. Same thing.

Since you are a Celtics fan, weren't you excited when Kevin Garnett helped your team won that banner 16th? Didn't you felt sorry when he got injured in the following year? How about the 2010 finals then? Kevin Garnett was the soul of the team at the time. Without him, how could the Celtics became a championship competitor for consecutive years? He gave up his numbers and concentrated on dirty defense works which there weren't many MVP level players wanted to do that.

In addition, you should know that Celtics became one of the most popular teams because Garnett's arrival; however, I followed KG to whatever team he was which I think that was something called hardcore fan, and there are not many players whom they have the same influence to fans as Kevin Garnett does.

By the way, the 95 Topps are very good base rookie cards but they still have distance to be on the top list. As a 20 years collector/not investor, I would always put his 95 Finest on the top.

[Chris P]

Originally Posted by Totalpackage

Since you are a Celtics fan, weren't you excited when Kevin Garnett helped your team won that banner 16th? Didn't you felt sorry when he got injured in the following year? How about the 2010 finals then? Kevin Garnett was the soul of the team at the time. Without him, how could the Celtics became a championship competitor for consecutive years? He gave up his numbers and concentrated on dirty defense works which there weren't many MVP level players wanted to do that.

In addition, you should know that Celtics became one of the most popular teams because Garnett's arrival; however, I followed KG to whatever team he was which I think that was something called hardcore fan, and there are not many players whom they have the same influence to fans as Kevin Garnett does.

By the way, the 95 Topps are very good base rookie cards but they still have distance to be on the top list. As a 20 years collector/not investor, I would always put his 95 Finest on the top.

None of that matters..eric williams is more of a celtic ..what a slap in the face to KG...im guessing most celtics fans give KG a lot more respect and credit than this guy:

[mrb842]

I started following his career maybe jr of hs when he was down in south carolina the year jordan quit the first time. I loved 08, his stats speak for themselves and I think his decision to go pro makes him one of the top 20 or 10 people in terms of how consequential they were in the games history.

[Tallboy]

Originally Posted by ljandkg

This needs it's own thread.

World War 3 would break out but it'd be worth it for the shits and giggles....

Really glad to see his work followed on Blowout. His Greatest Peaks video of KG will drop soon and I was thinking I'd post it in this thread.

For me personally, I'd imagine many here would think I'm crazy based on how high I am on KG, and I frankly am trying to avoid heated basketball arguments right now, but yeah, anyone who hasn't done serious analysis beyond being a fan and listening to talking heads is going to underrate KG drastically.

EDIT: Here we go:

Thinking Basketball - Kevin Garnett: A Defensive Savant

[Dame]

Originally Posted by mrb842

He's not in the top 20 all time in scoring in boston. The celtics have something like 35 guys who've worn the uniform who are now in the hall of fame and I just don't feel that strongly about him. His wolves teams never really got out of the first round. To me I associate him more w/the timberwolves than our organization. Walker, Pierce, Reggie Lewis, Rondo, Eric Williams even, maybe eventually tatum and brown, to me those are bigger celtics over the last 30 years. Corey Dillon is a Bengal to me. Same thing.

Without Garnett, the Celtics last championship would be back in 86.

[Tallboy]

Originally Posted by rustywest

Do you realize how insecure you sound?

Don't be such a queen - Yaaaass Queen!

Heed your own advice, relax and just understand this is just my opinion.

It was in zero way directed toward you, its about this nonsensical craze that Topps 'PSA 10' base card is the King of all base where in most cases it is not, not in almost any of my criteria. 92/93 is acceptable, 08/09 is acceptable and begrudgingly 96/97 barely acceptable. 95/96? No chance.

Since you poked me, I'll add in that all that waffle about the Topps card capturing the essence of KG's intensity is a massive stretch, its a so so picture of KG crouching on D. The Upper Deck card on the other hand? That's another story, that's a shot that is KG...

Just for perspective: I'm someone used to being able to have mature intellectual conversations, and your response to me attempting to do this is something mocking my masculinity.

I'm sure you're not alone in thinking I'm too uptight, but I've been trying to get a conversation going about aesthetic comparison because people here are specifically giving their opinions on aesthetics as a matter of course. And, at least in this thread, I'm getting very little in return from those who have a different preference.

Re: UD shot "is KG". Cool, I appreciate that. I disagree, but it's something we can discuss and I get where you're coming form. That's KG rebounding, which is absolutely a great thing to capture in a card. It's not his greatest strength though. His greatest strength is defense. And by that I mean not defensive rebounding, but actually defending against the coming attack from the offense.

KG's ability to read the entire floor, jump to the next action before anyone else, and eventually act as a defensive floor general communicating what he sees faster than everyone else, has everything to do with why he was so revolutionary.

The SP & Topps cards capture that focus, the Topps card also has good enough photography that you can really get a sense of the overall shape of his body and how he uses it.

But look, if you prefer the UD card, that makes sense - I'm quite impressed by it too! And I'm also not saying everyone has to agree with me. I don't expect them to.

More broadly, I'll own up to my prickliness and I'm sorry about that. I don't have the patience with others I used to, and that's a character flaw.

Sincerely,
Tallboy

[Totalpackage]

There are a lot people today has forgot how great Kevin Garnett was. However, this isn't people's fault; Kevin Garnett gave up his numbers and changed his game style after the injury in 2009 which many younger fans only know Garnett was a great defensive player and loved shooting mid range jumpers. They didn't had the chance to experience KG's greatness of the game which he had in Timberwolves era.

Kevin Garnett received an another wave of hobby love when he returned to the Timberwolves; In fact, KG is a global icon; although he's not as hot as LeBron or Kobe but he's got quite strong fanbase around the world. You can see there are many high end Garnett cards sold to/sell from overseas.

[ragingbull]

I didn’t know that there are Garnett haters. Haha. Off topic but a nice read, guys. haha.

[Totalpackage]

Originally Posted by ragingbull

I didn’t know that there are Garnett haters. Haha. Off topic but a nice read, guys. haha.

If Kevin Garnett didn't go down in 2009, the Celtics had great chance win their back to back titles and even a three peats championship in the following year, but the fact was opposite and KG didn't helped Celtics win multiple titles which I think there are some Celtics fans who are still not happy with that. That's understandable.

[ShaneFalco]

Originally Posted by mrb842

He's not in the top 20 all time in scoring in boston. The celtics have something like 35 guys who've worn the uniform who are now in the hall of fame and I just don't feel that strongly about him. His wolves teams never really got out of the first round. To me I associate him more w/the timberwolves than our organization. Walker, Pierce, Reggie Lewis, Rondo, Eric Williams even, maybe eventually tatum and brown, to me those are bigger celtics over the last 30 years. Corey Dillon is a Bengal to me. Same thing.

1st ballot HOF. Put some respect on my mans name.

[lietuvalabas]

Originally Posted by Totalpackage

If Kevin Garnett didn't go down in 2009, the Celtics had great chance win their back to back titles and even a three peats championship in the following year, but the fact was opposite and KG didn't helped Celtics win multiple titles which I think there are some Celtics fans who are still not happy with that. That's understandable.

Due to a scheduling conflict with the bulls and Blackhawks playoff series, the Celtics needed a place to practice and they used Depauls athletic center for it. This was just a few months before I started working there. My roommate was on the cross country/track team and was on the 2nd floor in sports medicine for something or other and said he looked over and Garnett was next to him getting his knee rehabbed, has to be pretty interesting when you're used to just seeing your fellow college athletes haha.

But yes the Celtics needed him back on the floor badly, and though Orlando had a ton of fire power between 3 point assassins and prime Dwight, it would have made for an interesting series.

[Tallboy]

Originally Posted by Totalpackage

There are a lot people today has forgot how great Kevin Garnett was. However, this isn't people's fault; Kevin Garnett gave up his numbers and changed his game style after the injury in 2009 which many younger fans only know Garnett was a great defensive player and loved shooting mid range jumpers. They didn't had the chance to experience KG's greatness of the game which he had in Timberwolves era.

Kevin Garnett received an another wave of hobby love when he returned to the Timberwolves; In fact, KG is a global icon; although he's not as hot as LeBron or Kobe but he's got quite strong fanbase around the world. You can see there are many high end Garnett cards sold to/sell from overseas.

Indeed, Garnett's legacy is a fascinating one.

Circa '03-04, people legit saw him as the best player in the game. There was a serious debate going with Duncan, and everyone agree that an in-shape, locked-in Shaq was best of all, but Garnett was given top tier respect in general. There had been some of the whole "he can't get passed the first round" stuff in prior years, but '03-04 really put that to rest...

and then the bottom dropped out of the Timberwolves. The other two that "Big 3" were Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell - two players who shouldn't be considered "Big" at all - and after the one good year they went all in to push for new contracts and all the momentum just died.

Those last few years in Minny cemented Garnett as a B-lister in the minds of the basketball world and people naturally focused on what went wrong rather than what went right. People tended to classify Garnett as someone fundamentally limited based lack of team success and not being absolute top tier as a scorer.

While his time in Boston really should be seen as a big deal - it's in Boston he revolutionized modern defensive basketball (Thibs certainly should be lauded here as well) - I do think the reality is that the ship had sailed by that point in terms of how Garnett would be seen as someone like Kobe.

I personally see Garnett as a considerably stronger overall player than Kobe despite Kobe's scoring advantage, but Kobe will always be an icon on a level Garnett will not. Ah well, just makes those of us who really savor KG's play that much more attached to him.

[Chris P]

Originally Posted by ShaneFalco

1st ballot HOF. Put some respect on my mans name.

It's ridiculous..i dont take anyones opinion serious when they say Eric Williams as a more important Celtic than KG.

[Totalpackage]

Originally Posted by lietuvalabas

Due to a scheduling conflict with the bulls and Blackhawks playoff series, the Celtics needed a place to practice and they used Depauls athletic center for it. This was just a few months before I started working there. My roommate was on the cross country/track team and was on the 2nd floor in sports medicine for something or other and said he looked over and Garnett was next to him getting his knee rehabbed, has to be pretty interesting when you're used to just seeing your fellow college athletes haha.

But yes the Celtics needed him back on the floor badly, and though Orlando had a ton of fire power between 3 point assassins and prime Dwight, it would have made for an interesting series.

That's was a very interesting and great experience. Is your roommate also a fan of Garnett?