Many NBA legends have gone into the books for greatness, like Michael Jordan for leading the Chicago Bulls to six championships in eight years, or LeBron James for holding the most Finals appearances. Then there’s 19-time All-Star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird, whose accolades stack up sky high.
But along with the greats, there are those players who still managed to find a name for themselves in a crowded space, not so much for being a record points scorer or multiple championship wins, but for being so good at something bad. Such players are unlikely to become the main characters of basketball-themed slots in casinos from the expert selection at https://legalcasino.uk/, but they’re still fascinating to watch.
One such name that comes to mind is Kevin Garnett, who holds an unwanted NBA record: the most career traveling violations.
Why So Many Traveling Violations?
The question of why Kevin Garnett was routinely called for traveling violations is interesting. This quirky record is notable because it’s typically argued that it was down to his style of play. Garnett played at an incredible intensity level and was always pushing the limits, which carried him just a little too far, a little too often. The interesting juxtaposition, however, is that for such a skilled, highly regarded player, critics would say that the errors should have been coached out of his game.
Garnett’s Record
The NBA started tracking play-by-play data at the start of the 1996 season. From that point, Kevin Garnett picked up a total of 495 traveling violations, putting him well clear of anyone else. It is a record that’s unlikely to fall anytime soon. For comparison, Shaquille O’Neal had 340 violations, and Dwight Howard had 370. Garnett was no mug and not an unskilled player punching above his weight in the NBA. He possessed elite skills and had a great IQ on the court as well. However, his traveling violation record leads many to believe that he was simply a careless player, and at times, a hindrance to his team, as he would often get flagged. But what really was behind the stat?
Garnett’s Style
Garnett was a big, tall player, standing at 6’11” and weighing in at 240 lb, with some sources citing that he stood at 7’1″ with his basketball shoes on. He was a player who was everywhere on the court, thanks to his versatility. His ball-handling skills were brilliant, and he would fly up and down the court with massive strides with momentum that was hard to stop. But he was also nimble, slipping in deceptive moves to beat opponents, and his uniqueness was that he had the height of a forward with the combined skill and agility of a guard. Being such an offensive threat, and always in motion, he would use pivots, power steps, and jabs to try and dance around defenders. A lot of his movements were explosive, a quick generation of power and speed, and this often left him vulnerable to violations. One of the moves that he often got called out for was his heel pivot, which he used to create space on the floor. This became a constant target for referees who were strict about the pivot foot, which led to the question of whether Garnett was targeted.
No Rule Chances
Well, there weren’t specific rule changes at the time for traveling that would have impacted Garnett. None were changed to target him, but that’s not the complete story. The game back when he was strutting his stuff for the Minnesota Timberwolves from the mid-90s through the mid-2000s was a very different environment from what it is today. Traveling violations were enforced a lot more within a much stricter framework than what today’s game operates in. The NBA today has fairly relaxed traveling rules, with the two steps permitted as the “gather step” and the “Euro Step” having found their place in the game, where driving up the court with long strides like Garnett did isn’t going to get a player punished. So rather than being targeted, his record is just a strange phenomenon of the time, mixed with his style.
A Great Record
Holding an NBA record is still a great thing, and Garnett was a special player because of the dynamic way he moved, and he attempted moves that others hadn’t seen before. Looking back at his career, he was pushing the boundaries of movement, looking to create that extra split second of space, which came at a cost. It’s a record that seems to overshadow the fact that Garnett won an NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008, which is a little unfair. But those violations are part and parcel of his career, and it’s one that, for many, sets Garnett apart from the crowd.