In his playing days, Hall of Fame former NBA power forward/center Kevin Garnett was feared leaguewide not just for his ferocious two-way ability on the court, but also for his infamous trash talking.
From his hilarious sartorial notes for late great TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager to his seemingly prolific ability to make opponents and teammates sob, the 6-foot-11 superstar was nearly as good at the art of the talking smack as he was at locking down opposing big men and nailing jumpers.
To hear Garnett tell it, another Hall of Fame big man was a trash talker of a different stripe entirely.
Per Garnett, former two-time Houston Rockets champion and league MVP center Hakeem Olajuwon had an utterly unique approach to besmirching his enemies, with outside-the-box disses of his own.
"Man, Dream [Olajuwon's nickname] used to talk s---, but his talking s--- was so sophisticated," Garnett concedes. "Coming from Chi-Town, going right into the league... Man, [in] Chi-Town you had the little quick [comebacks]."
Garnett was selected straight out of high school — Chicago's Farragut Academy, to be precise — with the No. 5 overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft. He quickly emerged as one of the league's next-gen leading lights. During his tenure with the Timberwolves, he was a 10-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA honoree, eight-time All-Defensive Teamer, and league MVP.
He was flipped to a loaded Boston Celtics squad in the summer of 2007, where he went on to make five more All-Star squads, one more All-NBA First Team, four more All-Defensive Teams, and win his lone championship and Defensive Player of the Year award. He wrapped up a 21-year pro career with averages of 17.8 points on 49.7 percent field goal shooting, 10 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.3 steals, and was an instant first-ballot Hall of Famer.
"Dream used to hit you [with things like] 'I am a man.' I don't even know how to answer. 'Hey, hey, don't do that, I am a man.' And you be like, 'Alright Dream, my bad.' You know what I'm saying? [Other weird Olajuwon-isms] like, 'I am hitting him with lateral movement,' that is forever. To this day, I don't even have a response."
Across an 18-year run, Olajuwon was a 12-time All-Star, 12-time All-NBA Teamer, nine-time All-Defensive Teamer, two-time Defensive Player of the Year, the 1994 MVP, and a two-time NBA champion. In his 1,238 career regular season games, the 7-foot superstar averaged 21.8 points on 51.2 percent shooting, 11.1 rebounds, 3.1 blocks, 2.5 assists, and 1.7 steals. Olajuwon, too, was a surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer.
It's fascinating that two of the best big men ever took such uniquely disparate approaches to belittling their enemies. Clearly, there's a multitude of ways to assert yourself on the hardwood.
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