When the Minnesota Timberwolves brought 39-year-old Kevin Garnett back to town at the February trade deadline, then signed him to a one-year contract this summer, this is exactly why. It isn’t so much for what he brings to the floor at this stage of his career. They’ll get very little out of him in that department. It’s more about the mentality he brings to the game. And that was on full display Friday night against the Milwaukee Bucks.
It’s the type of mentality that causes him to get his hand in the passing lane to deflect the ball, chase down the deflected ball and corral it before it goes out of bounds, then wisely call a timeout before falling face-first on top of a row of fans seated courtside. And all of this in the second quarter of a meaningless preseason game which they were winning by seven points, mind you.
That’s the type of attitude the front office and the coaching staff are hoping he can instill within the Wolves’ promising young core of Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine and No. 1 pick Karl-Anthony Towns. Garnett finished the game with zero points in his 16 minutes of action, but he did end up with two steals, one of which we showed you above and could very well have made a difference in the outcome, considering that the Wolves narrowly edged the Bucks 112-108.
