The Minnesota Timberwolves didn’t bring Kevin Garnett back to his roots for production befitting his status as a future Hall-of-Famer. Days of the 39-year-old stuffing the stat sheet have been gone for a half decade, replaced by ones where his basketball impact is restricted to intelligent defense, opportunistic shot-making, and constant mentorship of younger teammates.
It wasn’t even those oft fleeting on-court attributes that precipitated Minny re-acquiring Garnett at last February’s trade deadline, either. He’s playing for the Timberwolves again to instill drive and intensity in Andrew Wiggins and company first and foremost, and to reenergize an understandably disenchanted fan base, too.
While Flip Saunders surely had no delusions of Garnett’s in-game performance upon dealing for him, it’s also safe to say Minnesota’s decision-making czar expected this franchise’s original face to be around for more than three months. And despite the 2004 MVP’s current status as a free agent and potential retiree, Saunders says those expectations still hold.
Here’s the 60-year-old via Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix:
“I’ll say this: when we traded for [Garnett], I traded for him with the idea that it wasn’t for him to come in and finish his career this past year and wave to everybody and walk off into the sunset. The idea was that he was going to come in, play some, he would mentor; unfortunately for him and for us, at the time he had a knee injury and the way our record was, it wasn’t best for him to play and put extra miles on those tires. So I didn’t play him. All indications are that he is doing things now to get in shape to come back. I’ve had conversations with him over the last 2-3 weeks about the guys we are drafting. I’m sure he is going to peak his head in to see these guys when we bring him in to work out or have some type of communication with him. We’re assuming right now that he does want to continue to play and that he does want to continue to play in Minnesota.”
A report from mid-April said Garnett would return for a record-tying 21st season come next fall, and sources said the ‘Wolves initially thought he’d play through 2016-2017 before assuming an ownership role when acquiring him from the Brooklyn Nets in February.
Garnett appeared in just five games for Minnesota last season, totaling 98 minutes of playing time. He missed the last 21 games of 2014-2015 with nagging knee pain as his team “battled” for the best odds of winning the draft lottery.
It’s fair to say he made an impact on Minny regardless, though. Garnett was a typically animated and vocal presence on the bench during his absence from the court, frequently offering advice to younger teammates or simply encouraging them with trademark aplomb. This particular interaction with Wiggins, during Garnett’s second debut with the team on February 25, is indicative of his effect on the young Timberwolves.
Will the organization’s newest cornerstone be receiving similar guidance from its original one next season? We certainly hope so. Garnett is obviously no longer an elite player, but that hardly means his influence is reflected by paltry counting statistics.
There is always room for emotional leaders in team sports, after all, and KG is among the best the NBA has ever seen.
[Via Sports Illustrated, via cjzero]
