Kevin Garnett Used His Hall Of Fame Speech To Celebrate Fellow Inductees Kobe Bryant And Tim Duncan

Kevin Garnett will forever be associated with Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan. Their careers all intersected with one another, and Garnett had to go up against both on numerous occasions — with Bryant, it was in multiple Celtics-Lakers NBA Finals tilts, and with Duncan, it was for the title of the best power forward in the league. All three fierce competitors, each member of the trio seemed to have that little something extra saved up for when they’d go toe-to-toe on the hardwood.

Now, their association is more powerful than ever, as all three are getting inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in the class of 2020. Garnett kicked off the ceremony on Saturday night, and in his speech, he made it a point to celebrate his fellow headliners.

“I wanted to say, Timmy, thank you, man,” Garnett said. “Congratulations to you and Kob, seriously. There was nothing [more] epic than when we battled, I looked forward to all the battles, seriously. And I thank you for taking you to another level, you and Rasheed [Wallace]. I appreciate you. It’s an honor to go in the Hall with you, bro, you and Kob. Congratulations Vanessa, I love y’all.”

Garnett’s battles with both certainly seemed to get quite heated, which isn’t a surprise when players as good and competitive as these three took the floor. But at the end of the day, there’s love here, and KG made it a point to end his speech by making that clear.