After years of evasive and embattled relationship, the Minnesota Timberwolves will look to mend their fences with franchise icon Kevin Garnett.
Per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, the Timberwolves, together with future majority owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, desires to reconcile with Garnett and eventually raise his No. 21 jersey up in the rafters of Target Center.
Added by Krawczynski, there is also a possibility that Garnett will be offered a minority stake in the Minnesota club, though he clarified that there are no “substantive discussions” occurring yet.
It was already reported last year by Charley Walters of Pioneer Press that the Rodriguez-Lore duo is interested in tapping Garnett on a $100 million ownership investment to the franchise. It remains yet to be seen if the hall of famer will finally return to the franchise in another significant role like the one provided.
Garnett already declared that he doesn’t want his jersey to be retired by the team and be associated as a former Timberwolf until Taylor remains having ties with the franchise. But when the ownership transition finally ends at the end of next year, there could be a great chance that the honoring from both sides will finally take place.
Garnett developed a tainted impression on the Timberwolves, completely due to his ongoing beef with owner Glen Taylor.
The all-time power forward was initially accused by Taylor of tanking the Timberwolves before his departure in the 2007 offseason. Then, Garnett’s resentment further developed with how the billionaire handled a tribute for his late mentor Flip Saunders, who died due to Hodgkin lymphoma in 2015.
The conflict continued to grow even after Garnett retired. Expecting that he’ll be given a leadership position in Wolves’ front office, he felt betrayed after the team hired Tom Thibodeau as the head coach and lead executive in 2016. In 2020, Garnett famously noted that he doesn’t do business with “snakes” like Taylor.
“There’s no reason to complain. Just continue to move on. My years in Minnesota and in that community, I cherish. At this point, I don’t want any dealings with Glen Taylor or Taylor Corp. or anything that has to do with him. I love my Timberwolves, I’ll always love my guys, I’ll always love the people who f–k with me there. I’ll always have a special place for the city of Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota in my heart. But I don’t do business with snakes. I don’t do business with snake mu’f–kas. I try not to do business with openly snakes or people who are snake-like.”
Last 2021, Garnett fumingly lashed out at Taylor again via Instagram story, claiming that his group wasn’t given a chance to go and bid to buy the Wolves franchise. Taylor responds, arguing that the retired basketball superstar never reached out to potentially purchase the team.
Garnett is the undisputed greatest player in Timberwolves history. After being drafted straight from high school in 1995, he spearheaded the team to eight-straight postseason appearances and a trip to the 2004 Western Conference Finals, the same year he was named the league’s Most Valuable Player.
He currently holds almost all of the franchise’s major and statistical records including games played, points, rebounds, assists, steals, rebounds, blocks, field goals, and minutes per game average.
