Former Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves star big man Kevin Garnett says Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James’ influence could prevent a war between Israel and Hamas.
“Man, he won the whole world,” Garnett said around the 45:30 mark. “He wanted to go to China and do something, and he wanted to — if he wanted to, God might be able to stop the war right now. If LeBron wanted to, man, ‘y’all just stop fighting, man. Y’all calm down, man. . Everybody calm down. This is what Bron is capable of right now. If Brown actually gets the facts about this whole thing, stands up and says, ‘Yo, okay, listen, let’s get some money. Everybody just calm down, man. . At this point, everyone backed off. Man, bring out the tequila, man. Give everyone a chance. Let everyone calm down.”
Garnett faced off against James multiple times in the playoffs when he was a member of the Celtics. The two players have had some epic battles over the years, sometimes hindering each other from reaching the NBA Finals.
The 6-foot-11 big man played 21 seasons in the NBA with the Timberwolves, Celtics and Brooklyn Nets. He played 14 seasons with the Timberwolves and was selected by the Timberwolves with the fifth overall pick in the 1995 NBA draft after graduating from high school.
He spent the first 12 seasons of his NBA career with the Timberwolves before being assigned to the Celtics in the summer of 2007, where he paired with stars Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Garnett, Pierce and Allen led the Celtics to the 2008 NBA championship. Boston eliminated Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in six games in the NBA Finals.
After Garnett was traded to the Nets in the summer of 2013, he played the final three seasons of his career with Brooklyn and then the Timberwolves before retiring from the NBA after the 2015-16 season. In his final season in the NBA, he played 38 games for Minnesota, averaging 3.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
Over the course of his career, the Hall of Famer averaged a double-double (17.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game).
Garnett may have been exaggerating when he said James could prevent a war between Israel and Hamas. But James is one of the most famous figures in sports today and certainly has an impact not just on people in the United States but on people around the world.