SQUEEZE the ORANGE...The PROTOTYPES who have put their STAMP all over the LOGO from the Mid 90s on...the BIG TICKET and DUNC...Springfield Mass next station stop! #NBARoyalty

One kid was found by Super Scout Bob Gibbons of Lenior, NC as he and a buddy of his was going to see Mikki Moore in South Carolina (who later starred at Nebraska for then coach Danny Nee). The other kid was unheralded out of the U.S. Virgin Islands. One was going to the ACC to play for UNC and Dean Smith as he played his senior Season of high school ball on the west side of Chi City at Farragut Academy. The other starred at Wake Forest and tore up the ACC as his rival then was Philadelphia Simon Gratz Star and UNC Big Sheed Wallace. One entered the NBA draft and on draft day found out he passed the qualifying score to play College Ball but by then it was too late. One was the consensus #1 Overall and Celtics Coach then Rick Pitino tried everything in his power top package his two lottery picks to grab the Kid as the Spurs sat on the pick.

Some sixteen to seventeen years later they are both the Prototype Power Forwards who did it a different way with the same results...dominant results. Kevin "the Big Ticket" Garnett and Tim Duncan are those two kids now grown men who have captured the Logo like very few have. KG ponders the thought of playing his last two years of his deal in which he most likely will. Dunc goes for Bling #5 as he has been quiet and unassuming but underneath all of that a dominant force at the power forward. No one plays as long as they have played unless your that player and they have been those players.

Comparing KG and DUNC

KG
Farragut Career Academy Chi City (by way of Mauldin, SC HS)

1995 #5 Overall Pick 1st Round by T'Wolves (GM Kevin McHale/ Coach Flip Saunders)

18 Years in Logo/1,323 Games played

25,274 Points
13,843 Rebounds
5,224 Assists
1,970 Blocks
1,742 Steals
2008 Champion (C's)

DUNC
St. Dunstan's Episcopal St. Croix US Virgin Islands
Wake Forest University

1997 #1 Overall Pick 1st Round by San Antonio Spurs (GM R.C. Buford/ Coach Gregg Popovich)

16 Years in the Logo/1,180 Games Played

23,785 Points
13,219 Rebounds
3,612 Assists
2,652 Blocks
872 Steals
1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 Champion (Spurs)

The Numbers are off the charts and just like the Mailman, Sir Charles, The Big E, the Horse, and Mchale among others there will never be another KG or Dunc.

360 Degrees...both are under Contract through 2014-15 and wouldn't that be cool for both of them to be in the same class headed to Springfield, Mass in the year 2020...Dunc has a Player Option for the 2014-15 season.

Another Nugget....KG n Dunc were both Nikes when they got drafted...then they both went to Adidas as Dunc has stayed with Three Stripes and KG has moved to China Shoe Company Anta Shoes.

Note: Numbers from Basketball-Reference.com...the other knowledge from the Bluedude himself!