Thon Maker: 'I'm A Modern Version Of KG'

Thon Maker and his curious route to the NBA have garnered a ton of discussion since the 2016 NBA Draft finished. The Milwaukee Bucks made Maker the 10th pick in this year’s draft and since that time questions have been asked about his entrance into the draft, and his real age. Now we can finally hear what the player was telling people before the draft.

In a pre-draft media session posted on the Bucks’ YouTube page, Maker compared himself favorably to Kevin Garnett. Specifically, he said he’s a “modern version of KG.”

Someone should tell Maker that Garnett is still playing, which would technically make him the “modern version of KG.” I mean, it would be ludicrous for Ben Simmons to call himself the “modern version of LeBron James,” right? But semantics aside, Maker has a pretty high opinion of himself. Especially since when Garnett made the jump to the NBA from high school he wound up playing 28.7 minutes per game as a rookie, and 38.9 minutes during his second season. Maker isn’t supposed to see anything like that in terms of playing time this year.

Additionally, Garnett had just turned 19 when he was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the fifth pick in the 1995 draft. Many believe Maker could be as old as 23. No one disputed Garnett’s age, which made his relatively smooth transition to the NBA even more remarkable. As a 19-year-old, KG averaged 10.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.6 blocks per game. Maker won’t have the chance to do that, since it now appears that when he 19 he was beating up on high schoolers.

Look, we get it, Maker was just answering questions off-the-cuff after a pre-draft workout, and he probably models his game after Garnett. But Thon, never call yourself the second-coming of a future Hall of Famer. Ever. That’s the first stop on the train to Bust Town.