Are NBA stars out of touch with reality? Garnett, for one would appear to be. In a 2002 GQ interview, the Timberwolves forward, who signed a six year, $126 million contract in 1997, remarked: "The things I have been through since I came into the NBA, you would not believe how hard it has been." Asked to cite an example, Garnett replied, "Buying my first house. That was a hardship.

In 1997 the Wolves flashed a six year $103 million contract in front of Garnett, which at the time was the largest contract every offered to a pro athlete. Calling it an insult, the 21 year old forward turned it down. A few months later, the team rewarded Garnett's stubbornness by upping the offer to $126 million over six years. This time he signed. The deal so horrified other NBA owners that it is credited with sparking the 1998 lockout. In October 2003 Garnett agreed to a five year $100 million extension with Minnesota, bringing his total haul to $226 million over 11 years.

Sealy wore No. 21 for most of his NBA career, but when he joined the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1999, the six foot eight swingman switched to No. 2 because T-Wolves star Kevin Garnett wore No.21. Ironically, Garnett had adopted No. 21 as a tribute to Sealy, whom he admired when he starred at St. John's University. Sealy's No. 2 was retired at Minnesota's home opener on November 4, 2000. It was the team's first home game since Sealy's death in a car accident six months earlier. He had been driving home from Garnett's 24th birthday party in Minneapolis when his SUV was hit head on by a pickup truck traveling the wrong way on a divided highway.

Maybe Garnett missed his calling. Rather than a basketball player, he sounded like a soldier of fortune when he riffed to a reporter on his mind set prior to Minnesota's game 7 playoff game against Sacramento in 2004. "It's Game 7, man. That's it. It's for all the marbles. Sitting in the house, I'm loadin' up the pump [shotgun]. I'm loadin' up the Uzi. I got a couple M-16's, a couple 9's [handguns]. I got a couple joints with some silencers on them. I'm just loading clips, a copule grenades. I got a missile launcher with a couple of missles. I'm ready for war." Combat metaphors aside, Garnett did come through in the clutch, scoring 32 points and snaring 21 rebounds to carry his club to an 83-80 victory and a berth in the Western Conference finals.

"They're really aggressive. They're like roaches on bread - you drop some on the floor and, boom, they're on it." The entomological-minded Garnett was paying tribute to the suffocating defense of the Pat Riley coached Miami Heat.