Kevin Garnett receives an MVP vote, finishes tied for 12th in voting


In his 18th season in the NBA, Kevin Garnett is still an incredibly valuable player.

You can see some of that value in his stats (14.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in just 29.7 minutes), you can see it on the scoreboard (the Celtics were 6 points better per 100 possessions this season with KG on the court, compared to when he sat), and you can see it in the MVP voting.

Wait, what?

Yup. Garnett, despite playing less than 30 minutes a game, received a 5th place vote for MVP, and finished tied for 12th in the voting.

Here are the full results, via Basketball reference.


While KG still has a ton of value to his team, it is a bit perplexing to see him on this list. The only guy in the same stratosphere in terms of minutes per game is Tim Duncan, who put up incredible numbers this year for one of the best teams in the league.

So maybe this was a 'lifetime achievement award' for Garnett, a writer just voting him 5th because of everything he's meant to the league. And if so, I'm fine with that. After 18 years of playing at a high level, it's safe to Garnett has earned that.

Edit: Took a look back at previous MVP voting's, KG is the first player to get a vote in his 18th year in the league (or later), previous record was 17th year by Kareem and John Stockton.

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