Whenever Kevin Garnett has deigned to talk to the media since the start of training camp, the future Hall of Famer has had a consistent message for anyone willing to listen: This year will be different than last.
And, at least through two games, Garnett has backed up his words with his play on the court.
“My mindset changed June 1, when I got back to my regimen,” Garnett said after Saturday’s 102-90 win at Detroit. “I got back to what I know, I got back to what made me great over these years, I got back to who I am.
“I’ve been ready from Day 1 for camp. I didn’t tell the world because you never know what tomorrow is, but I’m ready this year. I really want to say something else, but I’m not messing around. I’m here. I’m here.”
Garnett made his presence felt against the Pistons, easily playing his best game in his season-plus as a Net. He might be beginning his 20th season in the NBA — becoming one of four players ever to do so — but Garnett looked like he was still in his prime against Detroit, finishing with 18 points and 14 rebounds in 35 minutes, setting a Nets career high in points and tying it in rebounds.
“He played great, man,” Deron Williams said. “He played great. He gave us some big minutes … he probably played a little bit more than he wanted to, but we needed it.”
When the Nets acquired Garnett, along with Paul Pierce, in a blockbuster deal with the Celtics on draft night in June 2013, they immediately began plotting out a plan to keep Garnett healthy and productive throughout the season so he would be ready for a long playoff run.
But Garnett never seemed comfortable with the plan then-coach Jason Kidd and the team worked out with him, which consisted of Garnett never playing more than around 20 minutes a night, and usually in no longer than six-minute stints.
Garnett finished with the lowest per-game point and rebound averages of his career, checking in with 6.5 points and 6.6 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per contest. And while everyone around the Nets knew Garnett would be coming back this season — he was owed $12 million guaranteed, after all, for the final year of his contract — there were plenty who doubted whether he would be able to contribute more than last season.
But during the offseason, people around the organization began saying Garnett, after taking much of the prior summer off, was in the gym with a renewed vigor, as Garnett himself was quick to say at media day and since then, and was out to prove he still had something left to give.
“Just coming in and rehabbing every day during the offseason, he was in there just as much as I was getting ready and getting prepared,” said Brook Lopez, who is expected to make his season debut Monday against the Thunder, “so he would come in ready to go.”
Garnett has done exactly that, and after Nets coach Lionel Hollins has said repeatedly Garnett would have a longer leash this season than he did last, he has proven that to be the case.
But the amount of minutes hasn’t been the only difference for Garnett. Even his mentality at the offensive end has been different. Unlike last season, when he seemed to constantly turn down open opportunities to either shoot or attack the basket, he has looked for his shot, and looked much more confident in doing so.
“I think everybody, since Brook has been out, has been trying to take some responsibility in the offense,” Garnett said. “I’m no different in that.
“I told you this would not be a repeat of last year, and I’m just trying to be assertive.”
So far it’s been anything but a repeat of last year, and if Garnett can continue at this kind of pace it will give the Nets a strong four-man rotation between him, Lopez, Mason Plumlee and Mirza Teletovic that will allow Hollins to successfully use the two big man scheme he prefers.
“I’m not satisfied,” Garnett said. “I’ve got to continue to work, I’ve got to make it consistent or you guys are going to beat me up like always, but who cares?
“More importantly, me, I’m trying to stay consistent with what I know to be, and that takes work every day, and putting it in every day.”