Kevin Garnett’s second tenure with the team that drafted him has come to an end, according to the Minnesota Star-Tribune. The Minnesota Timberwolves and KG have reached an agreement for him to not play out the second season of his two-year, $16.5 million contract that was orchestrated and engineered by the late Flip Saunders, and a retirement announcement is also likely to come, according to the paper.
KG played 970 of his 1,462 career games with the T’Wolves, including leading the team to eight straight playoff appearances which culminated with a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2003-04, and he scored 36,819 points in a T’Wolves uniform, making him far and away that franchise’s leader. Of course, he won his only NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008 after being somewhat controversially traded away and the Timberwolves haven’t been the same since.
With Tom Thibodeau now entering his first training camp as head coach, and with a young team brimming with playoff potential waiting to fulfill it, it seems that the franchise’s most beloved and successful player won’t be playing any part in seeing that potential culminate. Neither Thibs or new GM Scott Layden made much, if any, noise about Garnett’s status during the offseason, and now it’s clear why.
The NBA will be losing a popular and potential Hall of Famer in Garnett now that it seems like retirement is inevitable.
UPDATE: Kevin Garnett has made it official.