Kevin Garnett retired in 2016 after 21 seasons in the league. During that time, he won a championship, an MVP award, an NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, made four All-NBA First Teams, and was one of the most fierce and intense competitors ever. You can still feel the same energy from Garnett these days as a television personality on TNT.

He is passionate about the game and still very opinionated about everything that is going on. Garnett has stayed involved, too, working out individually with players including Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jaren Jackson Jr.

On Monday at 9 p.m. ET on NBA TV, Garnett will sit down for a one-on-one interview with Dwyane Wade to talk about his career as it winds down. This week, Yahoo Sports spoke with Garnett about what he appreciated the most about his NBA career as it was coming to an end, why he thinks Anthony Davis should talk to Danny Ainge, what advice he would give Kevin Durant, why the Raptors are a scary team, and the time everyone on Team USA tried to dunk on Yao Ming at the Olympics.

In your interview with Dwyane Wade, he talked about what he’s starting to appreciate about his NBA career in his final season. What did you start appreciating in your last few years in the league?

I started to really appreciate the travel and the fact I got to go to every dope city in the U.S., and the world. I got to go to Shanghai, I got to go to London. Just appreciated how well travelled you are when you’re in the league and how you’re able to see every city in its glamour form. The last couple of years, I would take more pictures. I would actually get out and roam through the whole city. I did a lot of that my last few years in the league. I’m a scene freak. I love the scene. I love beautiful whatever it is, whether it’s valleys or what not.

You must have a few memorable stories from travelling overseas, like in Shanghai.

I have a bunch. I had Peking duck in Shanghai and someone nicknamed it Shanghai duck. They kept saying there’s this Shanghai duck and there’s this Peking duck but to me it tasted the same. They kept the joke going and it was [expletive] with me a little bit.

So you’re like pretty open-minded with trying different foods when you’re travelling.

As long as it’s not moving, man. As long as that shit ain’t moving. I like food to be food, you understand. I’m pretty open. I’m not a foodie. I’m not a guy that’s gonna be out there looking for different cuisine. I don’t disrespect it. I can appreciate it. It’s just not something where I’m like, “oh my god, this is awesome! This is amazing!.” I’m definitely not that.

I had this unbelievable boiled lobster once. They boiled the lobster alive. It was some of the softest meat, oh my god, it was unbelievable. But the whole experience of it being alive and then eating it at the same time was a bit weird for me. That was a pretty different experience but a dope one at the same time.

So you won’t eat anything that’s like live, like moving octopus.

Yeah I can’t. I’m cool on that one.

So KG, the guy who won’t back down to anyone, will back down from moving octopus.

I’m not saying I won’t back down. I would definitely cut its ass into pieces so this part and that isn’t moving around.

I wanted to get your thoughts about a lot of the free agency noise that’s been going on around the league recently, especially since you were a superstar who dealt with the same things in your career. First, Anthony Davis’s dad recently said he didn’t want his son to play for the Celtics because of how Danny Ainge treated Isaiah Thomas. What did you think about that?

He had his opinion and he voiced it. However they do it in Anthony Davis’s camp, as far as picking a landing spot, family is always going to be passionate. That’s his father and he wants his son to be in the best situation that he can be professionally and he wants his son to win. He wants him to be in an environment where it feels like his son is being supported. Anybody who is a parent would understand him standing up for his son and wanting him to be in a better situation.

What I would love is if he actually talked to Danny, and knew what kind of individual and human being he is. Danny is the No. 1 family guy. I know his dad feels passionate, but I’m sure Danny had his reasoning as to why things were how they were with Isaiah. A lot of people have to understand this is a business. Organizations are always going to do what they feel is best for the organization, and players should think the same.

Story continues