Kevin Garnett: Why the Timberwolves franchise icon won't let them recognize him

It is 1995, and this 19-year old kid named Kevin Garnett has just been drafted into the NBA after making the harrowing journey from the halls of high school straight to the arenas of professional basketball. Garnett has loved the game of basketball for as long as he can remember. He knew that he wanted to go to the NBA to learn more about himself and develop his game. Not many people were expecting much out of the 19-year old, given that he was drafted by one of the worst organizations in basketball still struggling to gain their footing after only existing for 5 seasons. 
So what happened in the following decade is truly spectacular and propped this new franchise up to the top of the basketball world.

Lets fast forward to 2015, and this fantastic franchise icon has been away for a while. Its been nearly a decade since good basketball has been played in the state of Minnesota. As a matter of fact, the Timberwolves had not played in the playoffs since Garnett's time with the team. This was at the time the longest playoff drought currently in NBA history. So when it was announced Garnett would return to the team in exchange for Thaddeus Young, tickets for his first game sold out in days. This would be the first game sold out at Target Center since Garnett returned to Minnesota as a member of the Boston Celtics. A couple hours before game time, the Wolves released 500 standing room only tickets and sold them out. Minnesota was ready for great basketball, even if it was just a hint. As the team went onto the floor, the crowd roared as Kevin Garnett stepped out onto the parquet Target Center floor with a Timberwolves jersey on his back. 21 was back for the Wolves, even if he was 38 years old. Many including Garnett described that night as if it was Garnett's rookie season all over again. The video the Wolves put together for Garnett's homecoming brought many to tears and filled many with renewed hope in the young team Garnett just joined. This time around KG wasn't coming back for his on floor basketball talent. He was coming back to teach these young guys his trade and his treasure in the game of basketball. He particularly picked out rookie Karl-Anthony Towns. Kevin mentored Towns in his time with Minnesota before he retired. He taught him things Towns may not have learned otherwise. Even better, Garnett was reunited with his former coach Flip Saunders. In fact, Saunders was a primary reason Garnett considered coming home to Minnesota. This all worked for two seasons until Saunders passed away after losing a battle with Hodgkins Lymphoma. 

Now we are in 2020, in the middle of a basketball hiatus. The only positive news is that the 2020 Naismith Hall of Fame class was announced. The headliners are Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Timberwolves legend Kevin Garnett. The Big Ticket finally made it to the Hall of Fame on his first year of eligibility. This was huge for the Minnesota community who always knew Garnett was a legendary player. Boston already announced they will be retiring Garnett's '5' jersey. Minnesota had been exploring retiring Garnett's '21'. In all honesty the Timberwolves should retired Garnett's jersey number. It would be the only other number up there besides Malik Sealy's number 2 and a decal dedicated to former coach Filp Saunders.
Now if you have heard the news lately, Garnett does not want the Wolves to retire his number yet as he does not believe it is in good faith. This is because Garnett and Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor have had a long lasting feud. This is because of two reasons. One of them appeared in Garnett's first exit from Minnesota. This was in 2007 and the Wolves had sunk to the bottom of the league yet again. Minnesota was outside of relevance again and Garnett wasn't getting any younger. Now these days any team with a player with the caliber of a player as Garnett was would have kept him and tried to find free agents and draft picks to form around him. But the Wolves management convinced Garnett that they needed to trade him. Taylor viewed the situation that Kevin was getting older and not the player he used to be, and the Wolves needed to rebuild. So finally they got Garnett to concede to a trade to Boston. The Wolves got multiple potential all-stars in return. Many believe that Garnett did not like this approach no matter how much the team needed it. Many also believe that Garnett was right and the Wolves should have kept him and tried for another championship. Regardless, life moved on. Garnett won the 2008 Finals with the Boston Celtics and was at the top of the basketball world yet again. Unfortunately the Wolves continued their slump at the bottom of the league yet again. They did draft a promising big man from UCLA named Kevin Love. This did not turn out to be promising enough as the Wolves were never able to rise above the .500 mark in Love's tenure in Minnesota. So when Love forced a trade to Cleveland in 2014 to join LeBron, it seemed the Wolves were back to square one all over again. But they did get another promising prospect in Andrew Wiggins in exchange for Love. 

Then once 2015 came in and the Wolves negotiated for Kevin Garnett to return, it was time to try and reconcile with Taylor with Saunders as the mediator. For a while it was able to work out as Saunders was able to soften it up for Garnett. But once Saunders passed away, things changed. Sam Mitchell, Garnett's former mentor in Minnesota, was named interim head coach. Garnett fully endorsed Mitchell as the Wolves coach for the future. Unfortunately after Garnett's second season with the Wolves in his return, Taylor fired Mitchell. This very much irked Garnett and he forced a buyout with Taylor for his last year on his contract and promptly retired as a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. This created a huge divide between Garnett and Taylor. Garnett believed that any plan that Flip created before he passed went out the window. Garnett believed that Mitchell could carry Saunders' mantle forward and believed in Kevin continuing to mentor the Wolves' young pups. But it seemed that Taylor wanted nothing to do with this and was focused on having the Wolves win as soon as possible so he fired Mitchell, and indirectly Garnett, and forced a rebuild of the Wolves front office. Garnett believed that Taylor only wanted the business in the NBA and didn't care about truly making the team better and despised that kind of behavior.
So now when it is time for the Wolves to finally retire Garnett's jersey, KG can't fathom it because of how much he disagrees with the organization's owner. While I really wish that Kevin could just put aside his differences with the Taylors and allow the team to retire his jersey so we could see it in the rafters, I don't know if that will happen. What really should happen is the Wolves need new ownership. Glen Taylor has put this team in the gutter since its inception. And since Garnett's first exit it has only gotten worse. The question both sides should be asking right now, is it really worth it to argue still about the past when Garnett acknowledges that he absolutely appreciates the Minneapolis community and his reception by the fans in Minnesota? Minnesota adores Garnett as a saint but the superstar refuses to put aside his differences with the owner to let them give the community the ultimate trophy they have been waiting for. The reason Wolves fans haven't called for Taylor to sell the team is because they believe (myself included) that any other owner would move the team to Seattle in a heartbeat. So that is out for now, and we can't wait forever to see if Taylor gives in to pressure to sell, so Garnett needs to concede now and just admit that while he is right he can't let that come between him and the community appreciating him. 

Let me know your thoughts on Twitter, Wolves fans. 

Stay Safe, Wolves Fans and #Retire21