http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/basketball/16724435.htm This year marks Kevin Garnett's 10th All-Star Game selection. The Pioneer Press gathered a cross-section of Garnett's favorite memories and anecdotes from his all-star appearances, and other players offered their thoughts and insights regarding Garnett through the years, on and off the court: KEVIN GARNETT On his first All-Star Game, in 1997: "I remember Charles Barkley giving me crap, how him and G.P. (Gary Payton) were on my (butt) every five seconds about nothing. G.P. and Shawn Kemp just giving me stories. I can remember coming in after the game and how you really saw the intensity of the talk of the second half (of the season). Come in the locker room, and G.P. is talking trash to (John) Stockton about how they're about to make a run in the second half of the season. It was good." More on his first All-Star Game: "I was nervous. I'll never forget I had a jump shot against (Dikembe) Mutombo, and I banked it. Mike Jordan came up to me and told me I was going to airball my first shot. That made me even a little more nervous. My first experience in Cleveland, probably the thing that stands out the most is I got to meet Wilt (Chamberlain). I saw Wilt sitting right in the front row. I was kind of a little nervous. I just went up to him, introduced myself, and he gave me some words of wisdom." On the 2003 All-Star Game, when Garnett won the Most Valuable Player Award in Michael Jordan's last All-Star Game: "Part of me obviously wanted to cherish it, but in respect to what he's done for the game and his inspiration to not only me but other young guys, I wanted to give that to him. It was his last, and I felt like it was only right. He declined and told me to enjoy it. That made me feel a lot more special about the award. It was a very fun game." On his rookie/sophomore game appearance in 1996: "That was in San Antonio. I wasn't really nervous for that. It was with guys that were in my draft. I had gotten to a point where I had some confidence under my belt a little bit. It was against Joe (Smith), Stack (Jerry Stackhouse), and Brent Barry was there. He won the dunk contest." On his favorite all-star memories: "New York. I think that was cold, the first time. M.J. was back in the Garden. D.C. still stands out to me, when the East came back and beat us. Obviously Atlanta, when I was close to home, I won the MVP. That was cool. Those three are probably my top three." WOLVES GUARD TROY HUDSON On Garnett's compassion: "I remember my first stint (with Minnesota), when I came to training camp here in 1998. I made it all the way until the last day. I really played my heart out. This wasn't my first time ever being cut (by an NBA team). I had been cut two or three other times. As I was walking out the door, he really pulled me close to him. He talked to me, and you could really tell it was heartfelt. He said, 'Keep working, you're supposed to be in this league, you're going to make it.' WOLVES FORWARD MARK MADSEN On Garnett's leadership: "There was one time I was injured two years ago. We had a road trip to L.A. and Golden State, and I went because I had people down there, and I went to cheer the team on, also. We had a road trip to Memphis, for example, or Orlando, where I don't really have anybody, and I would stay at home. After like four or five games like that, I walked into practice one day, and Kevin was sitting on the training table, and he said, 'Mark, I need to talk to you.' He said, right now, you're just being selective about the road trips you want to go on. He said you're going on the road trips where you have family and friends. He said either come on all of them or stay at home on all of them. You decide. I said I'm coming on all of them. "Kevin is the type that he's always going to tell you how he feels about something. I think that's what makes him a great communicator." On Garnett's loyalty to Wolves: "The one thing about Kevin is he's really loyal to the Timberwolves, so if somebody comes in wearing something that's not T-Wolves, he's going to let that person know. "A member of our staff (assistant athletic trainer Anthony Aldridge) had a Dallas Mavericks screensaver on his phone. We were all on a bus during the preseason for a game. One of the players saw it and said, 'Hey, Kevin, Anthony has a Dallas Mavericks screensaver on his phone.' Kevin saw it and said, 'Heck no, heck no.' Kevin said, 'When the bus stops, I'm going to hold the Dallas Mavericks phone, and you've got to sprint to that truck over there, 150 yards away, and you've got to sprint over there and jump up and down three times and say I love the Timberwolves.' "Kevin gave him a time limit, too, like 35 seconds. Anthony made it in like 33 seconds or something. Everyone was having a good time. All the players were there, laughing. Kevin can be the most intense guy on the court, but he can also be the guy that loosens people up and gets guys to relax and laugh." Rick Alonzo can be reached at [email protected]. DETROIT'S CHAUNCEY BILLUPS On Garnett's vocabulary: "I always get on K.G. jokingly all the time about him using big words all the time. He uses them out of context. I always kill him. He hates that about me. He wants to seem intelligent. It's just a fun thing, though." INDIANA'S JERMAINE O'NEAL On Garnett's competitiveness: "I enjoy playing against K.G. because he's one of those rare guys when you're competing against him, he's still pushing you. We can just be battling head to head, and he'll see me wearing down, and he'll tap me on my back and say, 'Keep it up, keep going.' There's not very many people that would do that. People want you to get tired so they can take advantage of that. K.G. is one of the great guys in the league that plays with a lot of energy all the time. I respect everything he brings to the table, everything he brings to the NBA. You just want to emulate what he does as a player, that intensity that he brings, that focus that he brings." MIAMI'S DWYANE WADE On hanging out with Garnett in Miami: "I just love K.G., of course, for what he does on the basketball court. But off the court, I was in my rookie year, K.G. came out to Miami and somehow got a hold of me. He took me out with him. We were hanging together for like two days. We were going on boat rides and just chillin'. He showed me a lot of love, a lot of respect. I love K.G. for being a real person. "It was during the offseason (in 2004). We got out of the playoffs a little early. He was down in Miami, and we hooked up. Sam Cassell was there. That was when he was still in Minnesota. We just had a great time. That just shows what kind of person he is. He was the MVP that year, and I was just a rookie, but he showed me just as much love as anybody else." --

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