I’m not old enough to feel too old, but being around the Minnesota Timberwolves this week has been an eye-opening experience. With the announcement that Kevin Garnett will be returning to the team in a role where he’ll attend games, be around the team, and have his jersey retired, the fan base has exploded with excitement.
For generations of Wolves fans, it’s a moment they have all been waiting for after Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez bought the team.
However, inside the practice facility, the excitement was a little more muted than the explosive reaction from fans. Most of the current roster hasn’t had interactions with Garnett. That might seem strange on the surface, especially given that the Lynx, their WNBA counterpart, have done such a good job keeping their stars in the fold.
“I haven’t had a chance to meet him personally,” Naz Reid said regarding Garnett’s return on Thursday, “but just off the energy and things he’s done in the past, I’m sure he’s going to be good for us and the organization and the fans.”
Terrence Shannon Jr. grew up in Chicago and shared a composed opinion about Garnett, who attended Farragut Career Academy in Chicago, coming back.
“I know the work he did in Chicago and here with the Timberwolves, I’m happy for him,” said Shannon, who attended Lincoln Park High School. “I feel like this is something he wanted, and I’m glad he got the opportunity to get it done and get his jersey retired.”
Then, it dawned on me. Garnett played his last game on Jan. 23, 2016. Reid was 16, and Shannon was 15. When the Timberwolves traded Garnett to the Boston Celtics in July 2007, Shannon was six and Reid was seven. Wolves guard Rob Dillingham was three, and rookie Joan Beringer was eight months old when they traded him.
That’s the reality of the Garnett return: Most of the Wolves players have no history or interaction with Garnett other than knowing and hearing about what he has meant to the city. Only Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, Joe Ingles, and Julius Randle ever got the chance to compete against Garnett.
Still, Gobert’s memory of him was probably more like a fan’s than an NBA counterpart’s.
“I remember when I was 18, I started playing professionally in France, and I used to watch KG videos on YouTube,” said Gobert. “KG mix to get hyped. So yeah, I think it’s great for the culture, I think he’s someone that has that competitive spirit, that heart. This is something that’s beyond just business, and it’s something that’s contagious.”
Wolves star Anthony Edwards has done some commercials with Garnett and was around him for the movie Hustle, so it’s safe to assume they have a relationship. But for most everyone else, the addition of Garnett back into the fold could be a generational gap in understanding.
Garnett is unquestionably the best player in Wolves history. He still holds almost every individual statistical record for the franchise. He’s the only player in team history to win an MVP. He’s also a member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team, and, perhaps most importantly, his competitive ferocity is legendary.
Having Garnett back in the building, even in a limited role, should affect the team’s culture. Something that the team that shares the Target Center, the Lynx, has found valuable.
Hall of Famers Rebekkah Brunson and Lindsay Whalen from their dynasty team are on the coaching staff. Fellow Hall of Famers Sylvia Fowles and Seimone Augustus are frequently at the Lynx’s practices and sharing their knowledge with players on the team. It’s something the Lynx openly talk about, and Augustus explained when remembering a young Napheesa Collier.
“I had seen the observation,” said Augustus. “She was very quiet, like myself, and she would just sit back and watch myself and Syl kind of lead the team and see how we would go about our business, and now I see all of those similarities in how she goes about her business.”
Augustus later explained how Collier had taken the torch from the old dynasty and carried it to the current era.
“I see all the similarities,” she said. “Nothing has changed but the players on the floor, everything that we’ve done, how we went about our business, she’s carried that along.”
That has to be the Wolves’ hope in bringing Garnett back. He should infuse the team with the culture that Garnett built in Minnesota, capitalized on in Boston, and has kept at arm’s length since his retirement. Reestablishing that culture could be part of the blueprint of getting the Wolves over the championship hump.
Garnett was so intense that he used to headbutt the stanchion padding before every game, talking himself into a frenzy. That type of intensity, coming back to it theoretically, should help the Wolves in some of the more effort-focused areas of basketball where they sometimes struggle. However, Gobert did make clear he will not be taking up the headbutting tradition.
“No, na,” Gobert said, laughing. “I’m a different kind of guy, but I see myself in him in terms of the competitive spirit.”