If you thought the “clarification” of Kevin Garnett’s comments and Doc Rivers’ support would be the end of the cancer patient trash talk saga, you were wrong. Asked by a pot-stirring reporter about the situation following Boston’s overtime win over Chicago, KG kept his mouth motoring:

Charlie Villanueva may be a nobody on a nobody team, but it still doesn’t make what Garnett said alright. And if KG considers Villanueva a nobody, why was he wasting words and time on the man?

Honestly though, that reaction is indicative of Garnett’s mentality. KG is a successful player in large part because of his confidence. He talks himself up and prepares himself mentally with his words. Likewise, he talks his opponents down to give himself an edge. Garnett may be wrong, and he probably knows it, but he won’t admit it until he retires. You want to know why? Because he can’t go soft and lose that mental edge. Once he loses that, he’ll be completely done.

Kevin Garnett’s desire to get inside Charlie Villanueva’s head with some trash talk Tuesday has backfired. Villanueva wrote on his twitter page that KG crossed the line calling him a cancer patient because CV doesn’t have hair. For anyone who knows Garnett’s history, the comment is not surprising. What is surprising is that KG denied the comment on Wednesday:

“I am aware there was a major miscommunication regarding something I said on the court last night. My comment to Charlie Villanueva was in fact ‘You are cancerous to your team and our league.’ I would never be insensitive to the brave struggle that cancer patients endure. I have lost loved ones to this deadly disease and have a family member currently undergoing treatment.”

When you’re in a sane frame of mind you would not be insensitive towards cancer patients, but when you’re in the heat of the moment and trying to win a game you sure as heck would. Who is buying Garnett’s backtracking? Why is he denying it? That just makes things worse because we know he’s lying. Nobody talks trash in complete sentences! Yeah, I’m sure he said “You are cancerous to your team and our league.” Now that phrase just rolls off the tongue. No contractions either. He should have just apologized and admitted he crossed the line. Then we could have respected him for saying he was wrong. Now he just comes across as having even worse judgment than we thought.

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Duane Burleson

Of all the things Kevin Garnett has been known for over his 15-year NBA career, trash talking is one of the most notable.  It’s part of KG’s game.  He swears his head off and says anything he has to say in an attempt to throw opponents off their game.  It certainly worked against Washington’s Andray Blatche last season.  Heck, even Ray Allen has had to ask his teammate to cut back on the foul language during practice.

However, there’s always a line that can be crossed and KG may have crossed it Tuesday night when the Celtics played the Pistons.  Garnett called Charlie Villanueva a cancer patient during the game, according to Villanueva’s Twitter.  Villanueva has a medical condition called alopecia universalis, which results in hair loss and has caused him to have no hair on his head.  The Pistons’ forward first put out a Tweet that read “KG called me a cancer patient, I’m pissed because, u know how many people died from cancer, and he’s tossing it like it’s a joke.”

The comment was clearly eating away at Villanueva, because he kept going with the Tweets.  “I wouldn’t even trip about that, but a cancer patient, I know way 2 many people who passed away from it, and I have a special place 4 those,” a second message read.

And finally, Villanueva came with the personal call out for KG.  “KG talks alot of crap, he’s prob never been in a fight, I would love to get in a ring with him, I will expose him.”

I don’t know who would have the edge in the octagon or the boxing ring or whatever Villanueva is referring to, but I have to side with Charlie on this one.  Trash talk is trash talk, but that’s taking it a little too far.  KG should be controlling himself better than that and be more mindful of what’s classified as part of the game versus going too far.