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talking trash talk

To recap: The Toronto Raptors are 1-3 and - let's just go ahead and say it - about to be 1-4 as they get ready to play the Los Angeles Lakers tonight in LA.

But I say: Thank David Stern or whoever you believe in as your higher power for Reggie Evans.

And not just because the talent-challenged Evans - who puts the 'one' in one-dimensional - is sticking to his knitting and pulling down 13.8 rebounds a game, good for third in NBA.

But because Evans, a no-nonsense Floridian, is one of those rare athletes who will actually say things impolitic about stars!

The controversy that has lit up the NBA the past 48 hours has involved Boston Celtics big man Kevin Garnett being accused - via Twitter, natch - by former Toronto Raptor Charlie Villanueva of calling him a 'cancer patient' during a Celtics-Pistons game Tuesday night.

Villanueva, who suffers from alopecia universalis, an autoimmune skin disease that causes hair loss, felt it was a low-blow and outside even the low standards of what's acceptable trash talk. He even went so far as to challenge Garnett to a boxing match, albeit from the safety of his Twitter account.

Garnett denied the specifics, saying instead that he said Villaneuva, a talented-if-under-motivated type, was: "cancerous to your team and our league" - which seemed a bit of a mouthful for Garnett to have spit out while in crazy game mode, but whatever.

Debate ensued: Did Garnett cross a line? Is Garnett a bully who picks on lightweights? Toronto radio host, Greg Brady, did a segment on The Fan 590 arguing that Villanueva was in the wrong for going public with his Tweet -- even if it made for some easy radio.

So where does Evans stand?

This from the Toronto Star's Dave Feschuk who sidled up to Evans after the Raptors practiced at UCLA Thursday and asked Evans for his views and was rewarded with some trash talk!

Said Evans:

"I'd love to see Charlie and KG in the ring. I'd pick Charlie…I've seen KG get his ass whupped. ... He's always barking, and when it's time to get physical, he's always been a little chihuahua."

It's not that Evans, famous for grabbing Clippers' centre Chris Kaman's testicles during a playoff game, is above trash talk: "If a person says, 'Oh, I had your wife' - yeah, you can say that," Evans said.

He's just got standards, and they're higher than Garnett's

"A disease? Without a cure? ... Like, 'Oh, you've got AIDS, Magic.' Come on, you don't do that. Certain things are off limits."

But perhaps most damning, he thinks Garnett can't/won't back up his trash:

"I ain't never seen him bark up a bear. He's always being a little chihuahua. When he's got a pit bull about to get on him, I've seen him back down. ... That's why I'll take Charlie in the ring."

Raptors play the Celtics on Nov. 21st.

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