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NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND

February 17, 2008

Kevin Garnett

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Kevin.

Q. Can you just talk about your workout today, how it went, and what happens tomorrow?
KEVIN GARNETT: Well, at the end of the day it's Doc's call. If we have practice tomorrow, I will participate in practice, and we'll go from there. These last four days have been my strongest days. I've made major strides and I'm happy with where I'm at. A couple weeks ago I could only do limited things. And I'm back to my old self again.

Q. Still feel good about Tuesday at this point?
KEVIN GARNETT: Yeah, I am, but I don't think Doc feels so good about it. So if y'all could, could y'all say a couple of words to Doc for me help me out, I'd appreciate it.

Q. Bosh has your spot. You've battled against him more this year than you have any other year being in the East. What are your thoughts on him? You have a little relationship through Sam. What do you see in his game?
KEVIN GARNETT: Similarities. He has what we call a face-up game, where he opens up and faces the basket. Very quick. Very agile. He's the man up there. No ways about it. I like the way he conducts himself, man. He's real mild mannered. But he comes out and plays hard every night. I actually have some respect. I look forward to playing against him every time we battle. He's up there with the crazy one, that being Sam Mitchell. So he has a good group of people around him from what I know.
I always wish him the best, but when we hit the floor, it is what it is.

Q. Is it painful or difficult for you to watch the struggles of your previous team?
KEVIN GARNETT: It's not difficult at all. I'm not a part of that organization anymore. So it's not difficult at all. Obviously I have personal friends on there that I talk to every now and then. But no, no personal feelings at all.

Q. Do you still have pain or stiffness from your injury?
KEVIN GARNETT: Stiffness would be an accurate word. But it's tolerable. It's not like major pain to where it's going to stop me. The previous pain has been just what it is, pain to where you have to actually top what you're doing, pay attention, listen to your body all of those things. This is a different type of pain throughout. This is what I call my first injury. You know, previous years I've been able to manipulate injuries with tape and ice and steam, and different types of treatments. But this is your core, this is your abs. They control pretty much everything in your body, along with your back.
And I've been educated as I go. Trying to be smart at the same time. You know, Doc's doing a good job of making sure I keep some patience. We're doing pretty well. Giving the opportunities to the young guys. But this has been frustrating, but I'm in a good place mentally, and I think I'm dealing with it pretty well compared to my past.

Q. Carmelo Anthony was elected as an All-Star starter for the first time. In your opinion, at this point in his career, is that where he belongs in the lineup?
KEVIN GARNETT: Definitely belongs on the team, you know. He's voted in, that says something about that, that the fans appreciate him. Any time you're voted in, man, it's a system of appreciation. But I think people get too much into the starters versus the reserves. If you're picked, you're picked. There are so many different players and people wish and hope about having a position on these teams. When you're selected, you should just take it with a grain of salt.

Q. In your eyes has he gotten better each year?
KEVIN GARNETT: Oh, absolutely.

Q. How has he improved specifically in the years?
KEVIN GARNETT: Melo's always been aggressive. He's always been an aggressive scorer. Seems he's trying to play some defense these days a little bit. AI coming there has definitely helped him emerge a little more. He plays with energy and passion. It's beautiful to see.

Q. You look around New Orleans, your face is everywhere. You're the face of this All-Star Game. It's kind of bittersweet that you've gotten so much publicity but not able to play?
KEVIN GARNETT: I wasn't aware that adidas was going to put me in certain places. I'm happy to be here in New Orleans, enjoying the city, despite the stuff that's happened with this beautiful city. I'm disappointing that I'm not playing, period. You know, I could have been on nothing, and I would still be disappointed.
But I am happy to be here. Chris Bosh obviously has the starting position. I'll be rooting for him as loud as anything. I'm going to root for the East. Talk some trash to my fellow ex-West compadres and enjoy it.
I'm already at a bittersweet kind of thing when it comes to playing anyway. But I just have a good outlook on what this weekend's all about. It's not just me, there's bigger things than just me.

Q. Knowing how you approach the game, is it going to be tough for you to ease yourself back into playing?
KEVIN GARNETT: Like I said, Doc's doing a good job of keeping me patient. You know, I listen to my body and I go by that, man. If I'm able to play full throttle like I need to be, he's going -- him and I are going to sit down and make that decision. I'm not just going to bogart or say, this is what it is. That's not my speed, like people say, stay patient with my coaches and also my players.
So Monday's a big day for me, and I look forward to it. Have some fun. Get out there. We're in that Denver air, so it should be really interesting. But other than that, I'm just happy to be back on the practice floor.

Q. When you look at the Western Conference, you've got nine teams with 32 wins at least. It's really stacked. How relieved are you that you're out of there and you're in the East, where there are only like three teams with winning records?
KEVIN GARNETT: That's the West, man. The West is the West. And as long as I've been in it, it's been like that. "Relieved" can be an accurate word. It's fun to watch. Now I'm the East, the East is no cupcake conference either. But the West has always been like that. It's always been a gunslinger type of atmosphere when it comes to the conference. They don't call it the Wild West for nothing.

Q. You see Shaq and Pau move to the Lakers and the Suns, I mean, it's wild, right?
KEVIN GARNETT: When we hit that floor it really don't matter who is out there, to be honest with you. But it is nice to see some people move to a different coast. It is.

Q. I asked some of the other players who they wanted to see win a ring besides themselves, and your name came up most often. How does it make you feel to have that respect and love from your peers?
KEVIN GARNETT: That's shocking, actually. It feels great. It feels good to know that the people you play against or people you battle against, actually have a level of respect or appreciation for certain things. That says a lot. It says a lot about the class and the character of this league.

Q. You've been out for the last nine games sitting in the locker room watching your team play so well. Has there been anything that's surprised you or impressed you as you watch them from a different perspective?
KEVIN GARNETT: I get to see my team every day, so nothing really shocks me, you know. I have a lot of expectations for the young guys just because I see how hard they work. I try to get them to apply the things they've done in practice over into the games. And as of late they've been doing it. Leon has been playing great basketball, along with Big Baby. And Paul and Ray seem to be meshing a lot better. It's all coming together a little bit. And obviously, I'm not missing meetings, I'm not missing too many practices. I've got to do my rehab stuff and all that. But for the most part I can see it all kind of forming. You can never simulate the thing that's go on in the games in practice, the way games are. There is no experience like real games.
It's good that our young guys are getting this opportunity right now. It's not surprising, but it's good to see.

Q. Which dunk did you like the best last night and does it motivate you to maybe do it next year?
KEVIN GARNETT: That was a joke, right? (Smiling).
Although I have to battle against Dwight when we play him, my appreciation for his talents toward dunking is uncanny. He had some dunks that you could just sit there and pick from. Very creative. I thought it brought the creativity back to the Dunk Contest. Actually, when he bounced it, caught it, tapped it off the backboard and dunked it in I thought was unbelievable. So I look forward to watching him, man. Sometimes I'm watching him I'm like, oh, man, come on. Give me something.
Gerald Green had some nice dunks too, man. The cupcake, and blowing that out. And dunking with no shoes on, I don't think people realize how hard of a dunk that was. He didn't just go up and dunk the ball barefooted. He went up and threw it between his legs and dunk. Half the NBA can't dunk and throw the ball between their legs and dunk it, nonetheless do it barefoot or in socks. So it was very entertaining.

Q. You've got yourself and Detroit are kind of in a little pack, and then Orlando a little bit there. How do you assess that next group in the East? People say the East is not as deep, is that how you see it, sitting on top of it?
KEVIN GARNETT: No. We try to take it a game at a time. But the East is just as stacked as the West. Obviously it doesn't have all the talent and talented teams. But Detroit could be leading the East or Toronto. It's really good, really, really good teams in the East that people tend to compare to other teams. But you don't have the big names or the big international names. But there's teams in the East that can give some of the teams in the West the bang for the buck, so to speak.
I mean taking it off the top of my head, Toronto, Orlando, Washington, those teams are comparable teams. You can't just discount those teams because they don't have the records going on in the West. That's what it is.

Q. You played in the West in your career, but you're in the East now and playing Detroit. Have you gained appreciation for the Pistons? And what do you think about the Detroit Pistons team? They kind of fly under the radar a little bit. But now that you have to face them, what do you think about them?
KEVIN GARNETT: I don't think they fly that far under the radar. I think they want to be more under the radar. Since the season started, the teams to beat in the East are Cleveland, Detroit. Then you have emerging teams like Toronto and Orlando that are making major strides. So it's not like it's a cupcake walk for us. We try to take it one game at a time, focus on that.
But those two teams to beat in the East, man, they want to be under the radar. I talk to Chauncey more than anybody in the league, and I'm not going to let them fly under the radar. Put it like that. Thank you all.

End of FastScripts

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