In the post-game press conference, Kevin Garnett, the Boston Celtics forward, gave his take on the LeBron James' free agency saga. It is a story which is about to overshadow almost every other basketball story from now until free-agent signings begin on July 1. Said Garnett: "Loyalty is something that hurts you at times because you can't get back youth.
"If I could go back and do my situation over knowing what I know now, I'd have [left] a little sooner."
He was referring to his situation before joining the Celtics. Garnett starred for the Minnesota Timberwolves but was stuck in a team that could not seem to assemble a supporting cast to produce anything other than an also-ran.
Oh, how quickly we forget. Part of the reason Garnett was stuck in purgatory was because he was earning well over US$20 million (Dh73.5m) per season, at the time the highest salary in the NBA.
As a result, when the NBA adopted a salary cap, it became a challenge for the 'Wolves to sign free agents because so much of their cap space was taken up by Garnett.
Garnett's greed played a significant part in his predicament. If you want your team to have better players around you then you should take less money. Pundits are saying the Chicago Bulls offer LeBron his best shot at winning a championship. Really? Bulls management suffered through a season of in-fighting. The team recently fired its coach. And this is a great situation? Steve Nash might be a better example for LeBron to follow.
When faced with free agency last July, Nash surveyed the landscape yet chose to re-sign with Phoenix. The experts derided him, saying his loyalty was foolish. Ten months later, the Suns are on the cusp of the NBA Finals.
sports@thenational.ae
