MINNEAPOLIS— Kevin Garnett may be the best player in Minnesota Timberwolves history, but he didn’t win a championship with the team. He had to wait for his ring until he went home the Boston Celtics.
With both of Garnett’s most favored teams in their respective conference finals, the Big Ticket said he won’t take sides as they battle for the NBA championship.
“I’m 50/50 lord, I’m love-love,” Garnett said on his podcast, KG Certified. “I’m the only one who can sit here in the middle and advocate for both. I’m the only one in the world who can do that.”
Paul Pierce, who was Garnett’s teammate when the Celtics won the 2008 NBA Finals, taunted Garnett about his fencing, but Garnett was having none of it.
“You can’t tell me which side to be on. I’m on both sides,” Garnett said. ‘I’m part Wolf, part Celtic… They’re my young boys in Boston, they’re my young boys in Minny.’
Those young boys in Minny did in the Western Conference finals for the first time since Garnett’s playing days. In the 2004 postseason, Garnett – who was the MVP that year – led the Wolves to a penultimate series matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers, which they lost 4–2. When Garnett was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famehe said his only regret is “not being able to bring a championship” to Minnesota.
This year’s Wolves team is certainly the best non-Garnett team in franchise history. They went 56-26 in the regular season, swept the Phoenix Suns in the opening round of the play-offs and eliminated the defending NBA champions Denver Nuggets in round two. They are now four wins away from the NBA Finals and have home field advantage over the fifth-seeded Dallas Mavericks.
The Wolves drafted Garnett with the fifth overall pick in 1995. He played 12 seasons in Minnesota before being traded to Boston. Then, after a brief stint with the Brooklyn Nets, Garnett returned to the Wolves to finish out his career. He retired in 2016. He remains the Wolves’ all-time leader in almost every major statistic.
Garnett has also spoken out about his dislike of Wolves owner Glen Taylor earlier this year withdrew his plans to sell the team, claiming that potential buyers Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore missed the closing deadline. Rodriguez and Lore – who are they? already minority owners – disputed his claims and the two parties are reportedly in arbitration to settle the dispute. Garnett was once mounted a failed bid to buy the Wolves.
In a television appearance, Garnett told Stephen A. Smith that he plans to attend at least one Wolves game during the Western Conference finals.
“I have to,” Garnett said. “I have to.”
Garnett said he also plans to attend a Celtics game this series.
