Like I said before, I'm losing respect for KG as a player more and more as this years playoffs unfold. Can't wait for these punk beeyatches to get bounced from the playoffs!
The truely sad part is some fags, carpet munchers and trans-pendejo's got their fewings hurt! What a tragedy! :rolleyes:
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,3...2114899,00.htmlArticle Published: Thursday, April 29, 2004
Bad blood flowing
Competitive series fueling war of words
By Adam Thompson
Denver Post Sports Writer
The blows keep getting lower in the Denver-Minnesota first-round NBA playoff series.
A day after the Timberwolves' Kevin Garnett hit Nuggets center Francisco Elson in the groin during Game 4 of the series Tuesday night, Elson took a personal shot back at the Minnesota superstar.
"That's a cheap shot by a low-class type player," Elson said of the contact, which took place in front of the Nuggets' bench late in the first quarter of Minnesota's 84-82 victory, according to Elson and teammates. "You don't do that. That's gay on his part. I told him that he was gay, too, for touching me in my private parts."
Garnett could not be reached for comment about Elson's statement, but his agent, Andy Miller, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press, "That's a ridiculous comment. That shows his lack of maturity and how unprofessional he is by saying something like that."
Michael Brewer, public policy director for the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Community Center of Colorado, said comments such as Elson's "harm children and adults who are gay."
"These kinds of comments are made every day in locker rooms and on playgrounds all over the country," he said. "It is totally inappropriate wherever it may be made, whether it's between two professional athletes or kids on an elementary school playground."
Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe declined specific comment on Elson.
"I know emotions got high," he said. "Tensions have been really high. It's a competitive series."
Elson, a backup, and Garnett, a favorite to win league MVP honors this season, have been battling since the start of the series, which Minnesota leads 3-1. The Timberwolves can close out the series Friday night in Minneapolis.
After Game 3 at the Pepsi Center on Saturday night, Marcus Camby of the Nuggets and Latrell Sprewell and Oliver Miller of the Wolves were talking outside Minnesota's team bus. When Elson walked by, Garnett came off the bus, approached him and asked Elson several times, "You got words?"
No altercation ensued. Minnesota coach Flip Saunders grabbed Garnett and pulled him back on the bus, according to several eyewitnesses.
When told Garnett had said he does not respect Elson, the rookie replied, "I don't want his respect. I don't care about him anyway. Who's he? I don't care about him. We're on the court, trying to win the game.
"There's going to be retaliation on our part trying to win this game. I'm ready to go out there and play."
Other Nuggets continued to chirp Wednesday in a series that has seen its share of on-court taunting and minor physical skirmishes.
Sprewell and Denver guard Jon Barry went jaw to jaw on the floor after Game 4. Asked what he said, Barry joked that he told Sprewell he enjoys watching him play and called him a "striking individual."
While that was going on, Wolves guard Sam Cassell stood on the scorer's table and held up three fingers on one hand and one on the other to remind Denver fans of the series' score.
"I just think it was kind of funny that the No. 1 seed was acting like they've won the championship," Barry said Wednesday.
The Nuggets were not without their moments, either. Barry made a point of flexing his muscles Tuesday night after hitting a 3-pointer. Denver fans threw debris at Minnesota players as they left the court.
Asked about the rising tension, Barry said, "I think the deeper you go in the series, it's like training camp, where you practice with one another every day. You're going to have some skirmishes. You get tired of doing the same thing. Everything becomes old hat. It was fun. That's fun. That's good stuff, jawing and getting physical.
"That's no problem, as long as it's not cheap shots like Kevin Garnett did on Francisco."
Minnesota guard Trenton Hassell said after Game 4 that he does not expect the bad blood to simmer down by Friday.
"It definitely ain't going to stop," he said. "It's just part of the game. They have pride; we have pride. All we can do is go out there and play, and may the best team win."
Denver guard Voshon Lenard said he does not take the trash talking personally.
"They know we're capable of winning this series also," he said. "So of course they are going to go out and give it all they've got. If they didn't and just played, then that would be disrespect. But they're showing they have respect for us by going out and talking like that."
Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik also attempted to play down the back-and-forth jabs.
"Just look at every playoff series," he said. "All you have to do is turn the TV on. You see bodies flying all over the place."
Wolves center Ervin Johnson said any heat between the teams is temporary.
"When the series is over, we'll have a lot of respect for each other," the 10-year veteran said. "Nothing personal. Just business. The rivalry will be even better next year.
"I can't believe that when the game was over (the fans) were throwing things. But the playoffs are win or go home. I'm glad no one got hurt."
But with the series still going, Elson was singing a different tune.
"They're a No. 1 seed and they're acting like little kids," he said. "So it's personal right now, very personal on my part, too."
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Denver Post sports writers Marc J. Spears and Chris Dempsey contributed to this report.
