Has KG gone too far (Charlie Villanueva comments) Update KG's response

[j804]

Yeah right, a cancer to his team wasn't Charlie the leading scorer for DET? no ones buying that

[Redz]

KG's statement seems like pure spin to me. Oh well, who knows what he really said.

You're a *bleep* cancer *bleep* *bleep* *bleep*

and

You look like a *bleep* cancer patient *bleep* bleep* bleep*

Charlie V would have probably been equally angry about both.

You're a bleepin cancer with no bleepin patience?

[RAcker]

for $95,000/game, you can call me anything you want, and I'd just agree with you on twitter...

seriously, I'm asian, my best friend is african american, and we've both heard waaaay worse than that from the time we were kids till now. KG's comments were low brow, but I'm sure a huge majority of the people calling out KG has referred to someone as a "retard" (for example) and that's no different. at all.

TP.  That was actually a good point and argument.

[Fafnir]

Question for those that are offended by what Villanueva says that KG said (we still have no confirmation either way):

Are you offended that the phrase "player X is a cancer" is universally used in sports to describe a player whose attitude is so terrible that it makes the team worse?

I saw that in another thread, and to me it seemed like a good point.  But then, I'm in the camp that is flabbergasted at the amount of internet outrage that KG has spawned since he moved to Boston.  I'm genuinely interested in the response of someone who is upset by this.

I think there's a difference between saying someone is [like] a cancer (speaking abstractly), and saying that they look like a cancer patient in an attempt to denigrate them.

I love him, but I thought what KG did was in poor taste.

Add to that the fact that one of the comments is mocking someone's appearance when that appearance is due to a disease that they have been afflicted with for most of their life and the other comment is about someone's behavior.

Beyond the current controvesy, do you have any doubt that KG would have called Charlie V ugly? Lord knows I've seen plenty of people make fun of Charlie V for his appearence. On this blog, other blogs, in person, etc...

I don't think that has the same sort of juice that "cancer patient" does. Society loves make cancer patients heroes for "fighting so hard", at least when its not lung cancer.

[ACF]

I lost my father to cancer and I'm not offended. That said, KG does probably go a bit overboard sometimes. But he's a Celtic and we neeed his intensity. For better and for worse.

I doubt people would be as cavalier if Kobe Bryant made a "diabetes" crack at Ray during a game.

I would think: "Ah, finally showing his true colors"   But the average NBA fan would probably not even notice. In fact, I doubt that it would be all over ESPN.

[barefacedmonk]

Basketball fans taking an issue with trash talking

This is not curling...

[KCattheStripe]

If you told me last night that KG would be in trouble for what he said last night on the court, I would have thought you were talking about when he said " Get that *bad word* out of here , *another bad word*!" and you could hear it on the broadcast.

[RAcker]

Per Wojnarowski's Twitter :

Garnett issues statement and says, in part: "My comment to (Villanueva) was in fact 'You are cancerous to your team and our league.'" 
Garnett: "I would never be insensitive to the brave struggle that cancer patients endure. I have lost loved ones to this deadly disease..."

Thanks, Drucci.

Does sound a bit wordy for KG.

"Charles, you are malodorous, and quite inept at performing even the most rudimentary of functions in your team's defensive schematics."

TP, my friend. TP.

[Evantime34]

Yeah right, a cancer to his team wasn't Charlie the leading scorer for DET? no ones buying that

Did you see what he did on defense? A PF that only shoots jumpers from the outside and refuses to play defense or rebound could be considered a cancer.

[Fafnir]

Yeah right, a cancer to his team wasn't Charlie the leading scorer for DET? no ones buying that

He's a selfish gunner who doesn't take good shots, doesn't rebound, and doesn't defend.

I think he's a decent canidate for the term, "team cancer". I mean he's basically a younger version of Al Harrington.

[GreenFaith1819]

The full statement :

“I am aware there was a major miscommunication regarding something I said on the court last night," Garnett said in a statement from his representatives released by the Celtics. "My comment to Charlie Villanueva was in fact, ‘You are cancerous to your team and our league.’ I would never be insensitive to the brave struggle that cancer patients endure. I have lost loved ones to this deadly disease and have a family member currently undergoing treatment. I would never say anything that distasteful. The game of life is far bigger than the game of basketball.”

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/11838893/25645901

Redz > yep it's way too polite to be his true words, you must add one or two profanities in there to get the real quote.

Thanks for post.

If this is in fact a big mis-representation of something KG said to CV, then I apologize for nearly throwing him under the bus with my comments in this thread.

So we take this to mean that CV is a liar?

And what kind of damage control measure(s) can he or the Celtics Organization put in place with this?

[crownsy]

Yeah right, a cancer to his team wasn't Charlie the leading scorer for DET? no ones buying that

Because if your the leading scorer on a team, you certainly can't be a cancer.



+ many, many more.

I think this might be closer to the middle, because the rest of the talk picked up seemed to be "your a blanking loser" excetra before the

[Casperian]

Question for those that are offended by what Villanueva says that KG said (we still have no confirmation either way):

Are you offended that the phrase "player X is a cancer" is universally used in sports to describe a player whose attitude is so terrible that it makes the team worse?

I saw that in another thread, and to me it seemed like a good point.  But then, I'm in the camp that is flabbergasted at the amount of internet outrage that KG has spawned since he moved to Boston.  I'm genuinely interested in the response of someone who is upset by this.

I think there's a difference between saying someone is [like] a cancer (speaking abstractly), and saying that they look like a cancer patient in an attempt to denigrate them.

I love him, but I thought what KG did was in poor taste.

(Edit: I just finished typing the following pos.  Ironically, now it appears to be very similar to what KG actually said.)

What if KG had said "Man, CV, you a cancer!  Every team you go to falls off because of you."...would that then be less offensive?  I guess I'm still just trying to wrap my mind around exactly where all of the outrage is coming from...

A cancer is something bad, cancer patients are victims of a disease. If you use them as an insult, you´re implying that it is not acceptable that these people have this disease, theoretically.

[JSD]

Does anyone have a theory on why Charlie V would do this?  Is he looking for publicity?

KG should have just flat out denied the entire exchange. He should have been like "Charlie who? I've never heard of him"

[j804]

True^^ but what I mean is I could see if he was the most awful out of the team without CV they probably stay blown out by the half