Kevin Garnett

My hero is Kevin Garnett. He is a basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA. He is my hero not just because he plays basketball and inspires me to try my hardest but because he worked hard to get where he is and because he does great charity work within his community.

Kevin Garnett (http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2005/fantasy/02/02/mailbag/p1_garnett_getty.jpg)

Kevin Garnett was born and raised in Mauldin, just outside of Greenville, South Carolina. He spent his time as a kid always playing basketball and grew up with a bunch of other teenagers that would be constantly seen with a ball. Kevin was obsessed with Basketball growing up. It served as an ‘escape’ and ‘getaway’ from the troubles he had with his stepfather.

In his Junior year at Mauldin High School, Kevin and four of his friends got in trouble with the law for fighting with another student. Most people thought Kevin was an innocent bystander. Murray Long, a basketball teammate, said he couldn't believe it when he heard Kevin had been arrested. He couldn't believe Kevin would ever do anything to hurt someone.

Kevin's mother arranged for her son to transfer to a school in Chicago for his senior year of high school. He worked hard in Chicago, always playing basketball and bringing up his sister while his mom was working hard just so they could get enough money to get something to eat. He struggled in Chicago and sometimes would play basketball against people in order to survive. That year, thinking that he didn’t have good enough grades to go play basketball in college, he decided to enter the 1996 NBA draft and was selected 5th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves. He made history by becoming the first player in 20 years to make the jump from high school to the NBA. He has inspired other modern day superstars such as Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O’Neal and Amare Stoudemire.

Kevin Garnett is a hero because he inspires athletes like me to play our best and to fight through controversy like he did. He also inspired many other professional basketball players to go from high school straight to the NBA. He is a world class athlete but that isn’t the only reason he is my hero. He also is an active and helping member of his community. He has participated in the “Build a Bear” workshop which makes teddy bears for sick children in the St. Paul’s and Minneapolis Children’s Hospital. He participates in Minnesota Timberwolves team charity events and various ones with the NBA such as “Read to Achieve”. He also personally helped out in the Hurricane Katrina Disaster by donating 1.2 million dollars to help rebuild homes on the gulf coast. He is a hero in many ways and if he continues the direction he is going, he will inspire many others as well.