Garnett sweating details
Celtic works out early, and often

By Marc J. Spears, Globe Correspondent | September 4, 2007



LAS VEGAS - It's 8 a.m. in "Sin City." Many of the "what happens in Vegas . . ." tourists are either asleep or just getting to their hotels. As for Celtics new star forward Kevin Garnett, he's already up and working out on Labor Day.

Garnett is among more than 20 NBA players working out under the Abunassar Impact Basketball system at the Tarkanian Basketball Academy, but none may be taking it more seriously. For more than a week, the 10-time All-Star has been the first player to arrive for his six-day-a-week workouts. In fact, Garnett has been starting at 7 a.m. since arriving Aug. 27, and he began an hour later yesterday only because Joe Abunassar wanted his employees to have an extra hour of sleep on the holiday.

"I like my footprints to be the first in the sand," Garnett said.

Said Abunassar: "He's a [workout] freak and always has been. He likes to come in and get it done."

Abunassar has been working out Garnett for seven weeks this summer, the majority of the time in Los Angeles. The regimen includes about 90 minutes of weight training and 90 minutes of basketball drills and five-on-five scrimmages. While Celtics training camp doesn't begin until Sept. 30 in Rome, Garnett already seems to be in prime shape.

In one drill yesterday, Garnett showed how strong he is. Wearing a belt with a cable connected to it, Garnett was immovable as one man tried to yank him from the post with the cable and Abunassar tried unsuccessfully to steal the ball several times.

The 6-foot-11-inch, 253-pounder also sprinted while pulling a man with a resistance cable. After the drill, a sweat-drenched Garnett made the majority of his free throws while pumping himself up.

"C'mon Kevin. C'mon Kevin. C'mon Kevin," he said.

Garnett preferred not to talk much about his tough regimen. Abunassar said Garnett is private about it and doesn't like fanfare, and he could be the hardest worker of all the players Abunassar trains.

"He's so focused about getting ready," Abunassar said. "He's a leader by the way he is. That's why he's Kevin Garnett."

Celtics coach Doc Rivers would like his players to be in Boston for pre-training camp workouts by Sunday. According to Abunassar, Garnett is expected to arrive in Boston as early as tomorrow.

Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Garnett and guard Ray Allen have been calling their new teammates to get in early for voluntary workouts. According to Ainge, 8-10 Celtics have been working out, voluntarily, at the Waltham facility on a consistent basis. Ainge also wasn't surprised to hear Garnett has been working out hard.

"He's looking forward to this year," Ainge said. "Work ethic isn't something he's lacked."

Ainge said second-round draft pick Glen "Big Baby" Davis has signed a contract, with an official announcement to come today. The ex-Louisiana State star, the 35th overall pick, in the second round, averaged 12 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.8 blocked shots in five games of Summer League play.

"I like his versatility," Ainge said. "He can shoot the ball. He's a terrific rebounder, quick feet defensively. He played well in Summer League."

The Celtics have 13 players with guaranteed contracts; rookie forward Brandon Wallace is partially guaranteed and guard Jackie Manual signed a make-good contract. Ainge said the Celtics might not bring anyone else to training camp, and if they do, it probably won't be a big-name player.

Posted by BasketballJones:

I'm sure the Knick players are working just as hard this off-season. They're just not making a big deal out of it like Garnett and the Celtics.

Q: While there is plenty to be excited about with those young players, the identity of the organization remains Kevin Garnett. As someone who knows KG better than almost anybody in the league, what stands out to you?

Hoiberg: Kevin's a tremendous leader by example for these guys. I've never been around a person that works as hard as him, has the desire to win as much as him. These guys will look back on their careers and realize how fortunate they were to play with him because of his work ethic. I think some guys come in with the expectation that this league is going to be easy. Kevin Garnett is who he is because of his work ethic. He continues to come in early. He always stays after practice lifting weights, getting shots up. After back-to-back, forty-five minute games, he'll practice and practice hard like it's another game. He is a great player because of that, and these guys see that. Kevin's work ethic will rub off on them. He's a special person, a special player, continuing to play and putting up great numbers. 23 points, 12 rebounds again this season. His blocked shots are up. It's going to be an important summer for us to figure out where we're going to go with the direction of this team and what pieces we're going to try to put around these guys. We'll see what happens. But as long as Kevin Garnett's on your team, I think you have a chance.

One of the adjustments Foye will have to make next year is not seeing No. 21 (Garnett) in the Timberwolves lineup. Foye praised Garnett for helping him improve his work ethic during his rookie season. When told he was praised, Garnett smiled as if he was honored.

"I just tried to teach the young fella to be good you have to work at it, " Garnett said. "It's not just going to happen. I know what [he] was at Villanova, I'm sure he was nice in high school, but at this level you have to work at it.

"I just instilled work ethic in him early, let him know how hard it is to be consistent in this league, and shared a couple stories with him about when I was younger and how you work. [Foye] has something that a lot of guys don't have and that's the work ethic and the heart."

Posted by Bippity10:

We need one of our vets to step up and show our young guys how to really work.

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by BasketballJones:

I'm sure the Knick players are working just as hard this off-season. They're just not making a big deal out of it like Garnett and the Celtics.

Be fair. During training camp, the Knicks players have to pull Curry up the court in drills.

What KG is doing just doesn't compare.

Posted by Bippity10:

We need one of our vets to step up and show our young guys how to really work.