Anthony Peeler elbows Kevin Garnett in the chest which sends him to the floor. KG eventually gets up and attempts to get one back but Peeler straight up elbows him in the face (Game 6, WCSF 2004).
by ToronoRapture
@National Basketball Association
36 Comments
“It was retaliation after he hit me with an elbow,” Peeler said after the 104-87 win. “It’s always the guy that responds that is the one that gets suspended or ejected. So if I get suspended or ejected, I think that he should as well.”
KG was fined just $7,500 as Peeler was hit with a two-game suspension without pay.
“I’m surprised that it was a little dirty,” Garnett said about the punch. “I played with him a couple of years, so I know what kind of player he is. It was surprising, but I wasn’t going to let anybody just hit me. Never have, never will.”
“It’s Game 7, man. That’s it. It’s for all the marbles,” Garnett said. “Sitting in the house, I’m loading up the pump. I’m loading up the Uzi. I got a couple M-16s, a couple 9. I got a couple joints with some silencers on them. I’m just loading clips, a couple grenades. I got a missile launcher. I’m ready for war.”
In game 7, KG dropped 32 points, 21 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 steals on the Peeler-less Kings; 15 of those 32 points came in the 4th quarter, which was more than all five of the King’s starter. As for those starters, Chris Webber had just 16 points, Peja Stojakovic missed 9 of 12 shots, Mike Bibby missed 9 of 13, Vlade Divac only had six boards and zero blocks and their leading scorer was Doug Christie with 21 points.
Wolves faced the Lakers in the WCF but ended up losing 4-2.
[KG’s “Ready for War” quote.](https://youtu.be/3J2zudcnYkY?si=Ehk9U6iIRbutywkj)
The way KG talk you would have thought he would have stood up for himself
The new generation is soft because they don’t just straight up assault their opponents anymore.
– every old head
Anthony peeler, now that’s a name I haven’t heard from in a minute
All the people who talk about players being fake tough guys are the whitest people ever
Edit: the people saying this is racist are even whiter, get some bitches
Ya’ll clowning KG for keeping his composure and not getting kicked out of a playoff game?
Pat Bev talked about this, if he can get in a superstar’s head and both of them get ejected, he’s won because Pat’s team loses a role player while the other team loses their best player.
What the hell is real tough guy in nba fans eyes? Should a star player just be punching everyone in the face every game? Who are these real tough guys?
“Where Im from, bullies get bullied.” – Z-Bo
Draymond wouldn’t have only got a technical
Still think Peeler would’ve whooped KG’s ass in a streetfight.
As a Kings fan I really wish KG had proven his toughness here and gotten suspended for that Game 7.
KG loved to go at lesser players (skill and/or height wise). He tried that with AP and he wasn’t having it 😂
Rare footage of KG getting boned, literally
Is that Al Michaels? I have no recollection of him calling basketball games back then
Damn Garnett ate that elbow to the face like a damn champ though!
KG is the poster boy for NBA fake tough guys
Peeler had been a Timberwolf the prior 6 seasons as well, so there is tremendous dissonance within my memory core seeing this incident taking place in 2004.
Also just slightly related, much to my wife’s chagrin, i have our small bin containing our apple peeler labeled “Anthony Peeler,” and my 12 year old and I refer to him as Anthony when he comes out.
Embiid would have gone for a month to the UCI after that hit
You gotta be more subtle with your retaliation. Peeler goes up for a rebound? Oops, didn’t mean to undercut you and drop you on your fuckin head, accidental basketball play.
Why don’t they ever bring this clip up on him and PP podcast
All this “fake tough guy” talk and condemning KG for not responding is just BS.
If KG would’ve responded, he’d have been ejected. If he’s ejected, they lose. Then you’d all be talking about how much of an idiot KG is and how he tried to prove how “tough” he was by swinging back.
Stop it. Have some logical consistency, please.
who is that idiot announcer who blamed kg for the whole thing? peeler throw the first elbow to the stomach then the head. kg just did a simple nudge but couldn’t do anything more because he’ll get suspended.
I don’t like KG but this clip is not the reason he’s a fake tough guy like a lot of people are saying,
There was a big opportunity for a fight to break out if KG retaliated but it would have ended in a suspension so yes taking an elbow to the face and not doing anything was the right thing
KG could only bully guys smaller than him.
Lol I know how much Garnett talks shit. I’ve heard the stories. I’ve always felt that he would go over board or get too into the trash talk so to see this is actually satisfying. Talk shit get hit it’s that simple. And KG didn’t do shit neither, he got fucking punked, it’s that simple. He was still recovering from that chest hit then ate one in the face and immediately backed off. That wasn’t nothing to do with the game, he was In a losing fight and he knew it.
Redditors judging KG if he’s tough or not. Lmao r/nba
The get back was game 7.
So kg got punked. What was that bouncing for?was that supposed to initiate a stare down right before they face off and rub noses and accidentally kiss
Not saying KG is weak for keeping his composure, but he always had a rep for barking at guys that won’t do anything and backing down against the ones who would.
Throwing elbows is 10 games minimum today.
This era was lit
KG’s strategy of going after the smallest guy on the floor backfired at times. This was one of those times.
I was in a game once, where a player on the other team was playing really cheaply against a friend of mine. Constant cheap-shots, always hidden from the referees.
I was on the bench, and as the play was going up-court, the two were lagging behind, jostling. Since the play was way ahead of them, everyone’s attention was up-court. Apparently, I was the only person other than the opposing team’s coach who was watching the cheap-shotter and my friend.
My friend had basically ignored this guy the entire game. He hadn’t done a thing about all the cheap-shots. Then, as the two were jogging up-court behind-the-play, my friend snapped – and turned around and launched an elbow right into this guy’s face! Then, just turned back around, as if nothing had happened, and kept jogging back up the court.
The cheap-shotter erupted. Went nuts. Eventually, he grabbed chairs and was throwing them onto the court, over the crowd at my friend. The guy’s coach saw what had happened, and he was freaking out too, all while trying to hold his guy back (who was still trying to throw chairs). They both got ejected.
No one else in the entire place saw what actually happened. To the audience, the teams, the referees, etc… this guy just exploded for no reason and had some crazy, chair-throwing, breakdown.
My friend just stood there with a dumb look on his face, wondering what happened and why the guy was so mad?
This play is where the narrative of KG being all bark and no bite comes from. He definitely had to keep his cool, but Peeler basically herbed him out. He also played with KG for a couple of years and probably knew from locker room stuff that he wasn’t really about it.
Garnett was one of the biggest fake ass tough guys.
Fun how Garnett never wanted to fight people that were close to his own size. He was talking crazy to people that were smaller or not likely to get physical with him.