THE RISE AND RISE OF…
KEVIN GARNETT

Kevin Garnett, the basketball player, was born on 19 may, 1976 in Mauldin, SC. His mother, Shirley Garnett, never married his father, Lewis McCullough. Kevin grew up with his mother and a stepfather, Ernest Irby.
He was the kid who spent all day (and sometimes all night) shooting baskets at Springfield Park. He is also the child who grew up too fast, working regular jobs from age 13 on to support his family.
Garnett later became the legal guardian of his younger sister, and kept his promise to a grandmother by becoming the legal guardian of her teenage grandson.
KG was the star of Mauldin High School basketball team. In his third grade, he was averaging 27 points, 17 rebounds and 7 block shots per game. After a fight between black students and white students he spent his last year of high school on Farragut Academy in Chicago.
In 1995 Garnett made the decision that now seems routine for the best high school players in America- he decided to skip college and enter the NBA draft.
He was drafted fifth overall by Minnesota Timberwolves and he is still loyal to the Wolves.
He is now one of the best basketball players of the world. He has got over five appearances on the NBA All Star game. In 2003 he was even the MVP of All Star game in Atlanta. Last season he was MVP of the regular season (he was averaging 24.2 points, 13.9 rebounds and 5 assists), but he still works hard on every practice.

He lives in a nice house, which cost over 700.000 American dollars. His garage is full of beautiful cars. Before the games, he likes to listen to rapper DMX.
Once he said: »My mom is a big, big loyalty person and she stressed loyalty to people who have been loyal to you. I have got loyal friends. I have burned a couple of times, but you learn from that.«
We can not forget that he is only 29 years old and he is still got many years of basketball in front of him.

Tine Ružič, 9. a