Rooting For "The Big Ticket"

I've always been a fan of Kevin Garnett. During his years in Minnesota, I saw him as an extremely talented player that never had a great ensemble cast. He was asked to do a lot, and seemingly left everything he had out on the court every night. Over time, it appeared that he would become another great player that never won a championship. However, when he was traded to Boston the prospects for that improved, and now here he is just one win away from his first NBA Finals appearance. Though, it's taken him 13 seasons to reach this point. However, in that time he has racked up some impressive statistics.

Garnett's been selected as an All-Star for 11 out of his 13 seasons. The only two seasons where he wasn't chosen as an All-Star were '95-'96, his rookie year, and '98-'99, when there was no All-Star game due to the lockout.

He was selected as the League MVP in '03-'04.

He's been ranked in the top 10 in defensive rebounds over the past 10 seasons, and is currently second among active players and eighth among all NBA players.

He's also been ranked in the top 10 in total rebounds over the past 10 seasons, and is currently third among active players and 25th among all NBA players.

He lead the league in total points during his MVP season in '03-'04, and is ranked fourth among active players with 20,378 points. That total is good enough to have him ranked 31st among all NBA players.

Garnett is currently eighth among active players with 1,665 blocks, and is ranked 23rd among career NBA players.

He's also averaged 49.4% shooting from the field, 78.1% from the free throw line and 37.9 minutes per game for his career.

All in all, Garnett has put up solid numbers year in and year out. Unfortunately, the biggest areas that are lacking are playoff games played, 66 as of right now, and championships, 0 as this entry is being posted. For comparison, one of Garnett's opponents in the Eastern Conference Finals, Tayshaun Prince, has tallied 113 playoff games and an NBA Championship in just 6 years. Hopefully, Garnett can pull even in the title category over the next few weeks.