Best SC Athlete of All-Time: The Final Two
A battle of former Upstate residents in the title match-up.
Kevin Garnett was a Mauldin High School star before the NBA scooped him up and made him an All-Star and champion. A future Hall of Famer, Garnett is still working to lead his Boston Celtics back to the NBA title.
Shoeless Joe Jackson went from the mills of the Upstate to the Major Leagues but was eventually disgraced as part of the Black Sox scandal of the 1910s. Banned from baseball, Jackson was never able to regain his reputation and lived out his years reportedly playing baseball around the South.
Today, they do battle for the top athlete in SC history.
Who will it be?
J. G. Braddock Sr.
1:17 pm on Thursday, May 31, 2012
Shoeless Joe Jackson and Kevin Garnet best SC athletes? You've got to be kidding. Shoeless Joe was a cheater, and I never heard of Kevin Garnett until I saw him on your list.
What about All-America Doc Blanchard, Big leaguer Gorman Thomas, All-pro defensive back Jimmy Davi, All-pro lineman Clay Matthew, who is the father of pro footballer Clay Jr. and grand father of pro footballer Clay III, and Yankee infileder Bobby Richardson.
Shawn Drury
2:22 pm on Thursday, May 31, 2012
J.G.,
Kevin Garnett changed basketball both on and off the court. On the court, he is 6'11" and brought a level of athleticism to the power forward position not previously seen.
Off the court, he was the first player to go directly to the NBA from high school and have a successful career in nearly two decades -- the last being Moses Malone in the mid-1970s. Kevin Garnett is a certain basketball hall-of-famer.
Shoeless Joe Jackson had a lifetime batting average of .356 and was convicted of betting on baseball. That may preclude him from the Hall of Fame, but it doesn't eliminate him from being considered the best athlete SC has ever produced.