A Sense Of OG-ness

While I’ve never been a huge fan of Kevin Garnett (especially during his time with the Boston Celtics), I can respect what he did during his just over two decades playing in the NBA.  Briefly, Garnett was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves, out of high school, in the first round of the 1995 NBA Draft with the fifth overall pick.  Standing at 6’11 and weighing 240 pounds, power forward Garnett would play for 21 years for Minnesota, the Boston Celtics, and the Brooklyn Nets.  In 2008 as a member of the Boston Celtics, he would win his only NBA Championship.  In 2020, Garnett was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Garnett played during the 1990’s and well into the 2000’s, back when the NBA was exciting and entertaining to watch.  Today’s NBA is neither of those things, with the way that every team wants to jack up three-point shots with damn near every possession and mostly ignore the inside game.  NBA basketball is not a fun product to watch anymore like it was in the 90’s, when the inside and post-up game was a thing and very few teams were so reliant on the three-point shot.  Remember when teams used to play defense?  I do and I miss those days.  Incidentally, Garnett was the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2008.

At any rate, I was goofing around YouTube as I do and I came across this video featuring Kevin Garnett and former teammate, Paul Pierce.  In this video, Garnett discusses what he considers to be his first introduction to the current NBA culture, this in the locker room setting during a Timberwolves game’s halftime.  I don’t want to repeat what he says, but I would encourage you to watch/listen to the video below.  I found it very interesting and very telling.

God forbid, players would want to talk about the game, maybe some strategy, and perhaps even discuss some of the adjustment they might want to make going into the second half of the game they’re currently playing.

Keep your head in the game.

Many a coach and manager (if you’re playing Major League Baseball) have echoed this very concept, ideal, and recommendation for as long as sports have been a thing.  I remember it during my high school football days several years ago and I have to think that coaches and managers even at the pro level preach this very thing today.

An empty locked room?  During halftime?  That’s mind blowing, and definitely not in a good way either.  Players on their cell phones, during halftime?  I didn’t play high school football when cell phones were as prevalent as they are now, but I have to think that our coach would have stabbed or body slammed anyone who wasn’t “in the game” and otherwise maintaining some measure of focus on a damn cell phone.  Goofing around on a cell phone is not conducive to a winning environment or culture and in some way, it’s just plain disrespectful.

I love how Garnett, seeing this blatant lack of focus, calls out to his teammates and asked that they meet him in the locker room.  This is old school.  At least, he was trying to revive the concept of remaining focused on the game and maybe winning the game.  Get off the damn phone, and presumably social media, and get back into the game.

Now, I like that Garnett acknowledges that he was not necessarily everyone’s favorite person or teammate, but I like that he took the initiative towards creating a locker room environment that he was not only accustomed to, but one that he believed would foster a winning culture.  I will be the first to admit that sometimes, establishing and maintaining an old school culture is not a bad thing.  The fact that Garnett walked into a situation where the norm had changed so drastically from what was normal for him in the years he had played prior to his final stint in Minnesota is disheartening.  Sign of the times, maybe?  But still, that’s no excuse.

I don’t want to point fingers here or assign blame for why that whole locker room dynamic changed the way it did, but the fact that it did, is what really sucks.

As far as the locker room cleanliness thing, there are always going to be people who value cleanliness more than others and I get that.  But damn, how hard is it to maintain a clean space in a locker room?  I will admit that my desk and cubicle at work are not the cleanest, but I’m also not making over a million dollars a year.  When I start making those kinds of bucks doing what I’m doing, then I’ll start ensuring that my workspace is tidy, if not damn near spotless, day in and day out.  Until then, yes, my desk will continue to look like a tornado or a group of unruly and rabid Mexican kids ran through it.

Structure is a good thing.  Bringing order to a chaotic environment is also a good thing.  What isn’t a good thing is when people think they’re better than the structure that is to be introduced and implemented.

What kills me is when, in my own workplace, I try to educate the new folk coming in, that this is how and why we do the things we do.  Yes, it might seem like a lot to learn and take in at first, but in the long run, if you keep at it, you’ll see exactly why we do what we do.  When your foundation is solid, it’s much easier to build on.  Instead, I see a lot of resistance and even questions posed as to why things are done a certain way.  People want to be lazy.  People want to cut corners.  People want to do things the easy way, even if it’s not the right way.  I acknowledge that there’s only so much that I can do.

I don’t have anywhere near the fortitude or motivation that Garnett clearly did.  I’d sooner walk away the moment I encounter any resistance.  I’m just built differently, I suppose.

“Old school”.  “OG-ness”, as Garnett put it.  What concepts.  Sometimes a little old school needs to be brought in and it’s not a bad thing.  I miss the old school.  Maybe like Garnett, I want to see some of the old school brought back, but I’m also not the type to fight with anyone when they think they know more than I do and they’re just coming in and getting started.

Still, much love to Kevin Garnett and the wisdom that he brings/brought, especially to that very different locker room setting than what we would have seen years and even decades earlier.

If only it were that easy to bring the old school back.