According to a report from the Star Tribune, Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ relationship is coming to an end.
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Garnett broke into the league 1995, when the Minnesota Timberwolves selected him with the fifth pick overall right out of high school.
Garnett spent his first 12 seasons in Minnesota, capturing the league’s MVP in 2004, before joining the Boston Celtics where he cemented his status by winning an National Basketball Association championship in 2008.
When the power forward returned to the Timberwolves in February of past year, it was reported by sources at ESPN that Garnett had re-joined the franchise with the intentions of owning the side following his retirement.
Kevin Garnett turned the projected Class of 2021 at the Hall of Fame from magical to fantastic when he announced his retirement Friday and started the clock on the five-year wait period to be enshrined with fellow first-ballot automatics Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan and possibly wild card Gregg Popovich. After 12 seasons, Garnett had failed to ever reach the NBA Finals.
Although Garnett’s court productivity didn’t mirror his past performance, the same intense practice habits, loyalty and first-player-in-the-gym mentality carried over from his days in Boston. In his career, he played for the Timberwolves, the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets.
Garnett is also a 15-time NBA All-Star, having first made the cut aged 21 in 1997.
For a long time very few big guys had the skills, or the leeway I suppose, to have a versatile all-around game beyond functioning as a proverbial “back-to-the-basket” post player. He later helped return the Boston Celtics to glory. Garnett was the defensive player of the year that season, embodying his position as the heart and soul of the team.
Without question, Garnett is one of the best players we’ll ever see.
In the summer of 2007, with the Wolves feeling they needed to rebuild, Garnett agreed to a blockbuster trade that sent him to the Celtics in exchange for Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair and two first-round draft choices, which became Wayne Ellington and Jonny Flynn. “I mean he’s quite aware of it, but it’s not keeping him up at night, so we’ll leave it at that”.
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So much has changed since. But last year’s death of Flip Saunders, the coach and president of basketball operations, began a transformation that now has Thibodeau and Layden shaping the team’s future. Kevin Garnett wanted to partner up with Saunders to purchase a minority stake in the Minnesota Timberwolves before purchasing more of a stake down the road.
