Minnesota Timberwolves power forward Kevin Garnett shakes hands with San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich during the first half December 28 at AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Before Garnett, the idea that players could skip college was considered nonsensical; after, it was considered received wisdom, to the point where the National Basketball Association had to institute rules forcing players to have a gap year of some kind to keep the NCAA racket going.
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Garnett had contemplated returning for a 22nd season, which no player has ever done. He was voted to the NBA’s All-Defensive first team nine times and the second team three other times, and he won four straight rebounding titles from 2003-07.
One of the most fearsome competitors of his generation, Garnett was taken fifth in the 1995 draft out of Farragut Academy in Chicago, going on to become one of the greatest players to ever make the jump from high school directly to the pros. Garnett and Michael Jordan are the only players to lead any current National Basketball Association franchise in all-time points, rebounds and assists.
Garnett posted his best numbers during the 2004-05 season, scoring 24.2 points and grabbing 13.9 rebounds while blocking 2.2 shots per game en route to winning league MVP honors and leading the Timberwolves to the Western Conference finals. His value lied more in terms of being a mentor for young stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins than for his production.
But his best performance came in the 2007-08 season when he left Minnesota and joined the Celtics to team up with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce to end the franchise’s 21-year National Basketball Association title drought.
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So, while there are certainly centers who can score the ball better than Jordan, his ability to be an elite defender while contributing significantly to the Clippers’ cause either with his own scoring or the freeing up of his teammates, are just some of the reasons why Jordan is the top center in the game right now. During his 21-year career, he scored 19,201 of his 26,071 points and took down 10,718 of his 14,662 rebounds for Minnesota. He returned to Minnesota after a brief turn with the Brooklyn Nets, hoping to reunite with Saunders – who coached him during his first stint with the team – and bring a championship to Minnesota.
