Photo: Minnesota Timberwolves/Twitter

Despite the bitter relationship he developed with the Minnesota Timberwolves, specifically current owner Glen Taylor, Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett remains watching around the sidelines to support his former team.

As the team’s greatest player, Garnett is yet to feel the ultimate honor from the Timberwolves – by raising his no. 21 up to the rafters of the Target Center.

The idea of finally having his jersey get retired could be possible for him once Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez finally take the ownership keys, but the all-time great is much observant of how Minnesota makes progress this season.

“When that thing takes on new ownership, maybe I’ll entertain it, but right now I’m rooting for the Wolves to continue their thrust in the second half of the season,” Garnett said of his jersey retirement in T-Wolves, per The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn. “They’re playing great basketball. Anthony Edwards has put the team on his back. I still follow the team. I still root for the team. But I think Minneapolis has so much to deal with.”

The Timberwolves fill the ninth place in the Western Conference with a 35-37 record. In what they initially viewed as supposed to be a title-chasing year upon the acquisition of Rudy Gobert last offseason, the club struggled and is stuck in a tight playoff berth race, with Karl-Anthony Towns yet to be seen again to hit the hardwood this regular season after being out since November due to a calf injury.

For Garnett, it’s not just the Timberwolves but the entire Minneapolis that shoulders the hefty struggles that need to be answered.

And for him, these problems carry much weight over his jersey retirement that fans of the Twin Cities have been waiting year after year.

“I think they need to actually focus on that instead of the retirement of my jersey,” Garnett said about Minneapolis. “I think the city needs to get to a balance, what I used to know it to be, as a great city to live in and a very, very great place to have a home. It’s a little more than just a [jersey] retirement. I think it needs a whole facelift and a whole makeover, to be honest.”

Garnett looks at the big picture and is considering the entire city as massively deteriorating over the past few years. For that, concerns have been swarming him, but there’s at least a bright spot that’s being provided by the Timberwolves. 

“I just see the city and what’s going on,” Garnett said. “We can’t ignore what happened with George Floyd and it’s been like seven or eight more situations like that. I don’t find that to be coincidental. I find that to be very bothersome. It affected me as a person who has helped grow that city and really invested in that city. Tough to see where it’s at. Minneapolis is a beautiful place and it’s taken a dismal left turn, [but] it’s good to see the team doing better than it used to be.”