Kevin Garnett
© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The NBA is always in a state of change. New implementations to the game and the league are ushered in every season, forcing the players, coaches, and teams to adapt in order to remain competitive. If you can adapt to the changes in the game, chances are your team will see a lot of success with each passing year.
Garnett believes we are witnessing a change right in front of our eyes
One guy who has seen some of the changes throughout the many different eras of the NBA is Kevin Garnett. The legendary big man spent 21 seasons in the NBA, and through his time with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, and Brooklyn Nets, he was involved in quite a few changes in the NBA.
Scroll to Continue
If you ask Garnett now, he believes that the NBA is experiencing a change of guard as we speak. For many years, LeBron James personified the current era of the NBA. But with James and the Los Angeles Lakers struggling to open the 2022-23 season, Garnett believes that there is a new face of the next era of the NBA: Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
“I gotta say we’re out of the LeBron era. I think we’re in the Golden State, Steph era. I think we gotta start putting a lot more respect on his name. The man changed the game and where you shoot the ball from. That’s first. Secondly, he does it on a consistent basis. Every guard that’s under f***ing six feet think they’re Steph Curry and shoot the ball.” – Kevin Garnett, KG Certified
Garnett may be a bit late when it comes to making this claim
Garnett is correct in saying that Curry is the leader of the next era of the NBA. Every guard that enters the league now focuses on shooting at a high clip from all over the floor, as Curry does. Curry has also done so consistently for quite some time, allowing him to win four titles in the past eight seasons.
James has remained a spectacular player, but he has not been making the consistent impact that Curry has made. James won a title back in 2020, but he was promptly eliminated in the first round of the 2021 playoffs and didn’t even qualify for them last season. James only has a few more years left in the NBA, meaning that the era has likely been changed from James to Curry for quite some time.
Garnett recognizes that, but chances are Curry has been the leader of the new era of the NBA for the past few seasons. That’s no knock on James, but the NBA doesn’t wait for anyone, and the game has evolved to focus more on three-point shooting, and there isn’t a better shooter in the game than Curry. For that reason, and his consistent winning pedigree, Curry has been the leader of the next era of the NBA for multiple seasons; Garnett is just realizing that a bit later than most.
.