Garnett’s stellar career began in the 1995 draft pick, where he was 5th overall in the first round.
Advertisement
Kevin Garnett, the 15-time NBA all-star, 2004 MVP, Olympic gold medal victor and NBA champion in 2008, is retiring from basketball, ending what is no doubt a career destined for the Hall of Fame. He played six seasons for the Celtics before being traded to the Brooklyn Nets.
After getting dumped out in the first round in seven straight seasons, Garnett finally took the Timberwolves to the next level during the 2003-04 season, thanks to the best season of his career, numberwise.
Garnett’s retirement announcement came in the form of a video, which he posted Friday on his Instagram account.
After his homecoming, Garnett largely served as a mentor to the Wolves’ young players.
In more than two decades in the NBA, Garnett opened the door for a new wave of young talent to enter the league, was partly responsible for a rewriting of the collective bargaining agreement and almost singlehandedly redefined what the game’s tallest players were allowed to do on the court. The only players all time with longer such streaks are Dennis Rodman (seven straight) and Moses Malone (five straight). “He held himself to the highest standard of preparation and performance for a remarkable 21 seasons”. He has has a great career.
The look will change if Duncan, Bryant or Garnett return to the National Basketball Association, but the certainty of the moment, that all three have retired since the end of 2015-16, makes them eligible to be nominated in 2020 for the election and induction that would come in ’21. While he was obviously an offensive juggernaut, his defensive prowess was just as awesome as he was a 9-time All-NBA Defensive Team member.
“I’m going to offer him something”, Rivers said.
“After returning to thunderous applause in his first game back at Target Center, Garnett played in only four more games, missing the team”s final 15 with knee soreness. “I don”t expect this to be easy. The year before, Boston had been in the lottery, and it was a tough year to go from a team that had lost I believe it was 18 games in a row to a championship in one season. Changes in the front office likely closed the door to Garnett one day joining ownership. But so far so good.
Advertisement
So much has changed since.
