Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett reacts from the bench during the second half of a game January 19 against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center. “His Minnesota fans will always cherish the memories he has provided.”.
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After taking his talents to the Brooklyn Nets for two seasons, Garnett returned to the team that drafted him in February 2015 to join his first National Basketball Association head coach, Flip Saunders, in Minnesota.
The Wolves never made the playoffs again. However, the one thing that nearly seems a certainty is that he will more than likely be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame soon.
“We’re just going to let the process work itself out”, Jackson said during a news conference at the team’s practice facility.
“Kevin Garnett is one of the fiercest competitors our league has ever seen”, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement released by the league.
Garnett was drafted fifth overall out in 1995 and quickly blossomed into a major star and franchise icon.
In the end, we need to be careful about this discussion because we can’t very well fault Garnett for being less physically violent than he otherwise might have been. He played the first 12 years in Minnesota leading them to a western conference finals appearance in 2004, a season in which he also won MVP. He said Garnett brought the types of passion and leadership to Boston that were evident for years in Minnesota. I’m waiting for him.
Although Garnett at times could come off as a basketball savant gone haywire, he was also deceptively self-possessed and self-aware. He loves the young guys on that Minnesota team. And yet when Garnett forced a trade to Boston in 2007, joining forces with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to form the league’s first player-engineered “super team”, he didn’t meet with anywhere near the same backlash that greeted the Heat three years later. “It”s perfect,” Garnett said. When Garnett locked in for a game with such intensity, it benefited his team, but his competitiveness often pushed him over an acceptable edge. He appeared in 35 games previous year, largely serving as a veteran leader and mentor during the worst season in Lakers history.
So much has changed since.
Upon returning to Minnesota, Garnett spoke of his desire to become part owner of the team once his playing career again.
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“Through the draft and free agency, Garnett”s status remained unresolved, with Thibodeau and Taylor remaining mum on the subject.
