Kevin Garnett told at least a piece of the story behind his departure from the Minnesota Timberwolves organization.
In an hour-long interview with former Gophers forward and Timberwolves executive Kevin McHale that debuted Monday night on NBA TV, Garnett said when Flip Saunders, the Wolves' former coach and president of basketball operations, died in the fall of 2015, "so did his dream and his vision" for the organization.
"It's just sad to see that everybody in that organization didn't see the same vision," Garnett said in the interview.
Garnett reportedly had hopes to buy an ownership stake in the Wolves when he was acquired by Saunders in February 2015 to rejoin the team he started his career with 20 years prior.
At that time, Garnett saw his career winding to a close, and Saunders saw a plan for the legendary big man's future.
ADVERTISEMENT
"A great friend, Flip, came and brought an opportunity to me to come back where my origins were and where I had roots and where I was comfortable - all-in-all, a plan, an exit plan," Garnett said. "And I believed it and I accepted it and I went back to Minny."
Garnett had plans for Minnesota - where "fans are true fans."
He wanted to be what Sam Mitchell was to him in his early playing days. Mitchell, a teammate for each of Garnett's first six professional seasons, was "the greatest and probably impactful player that helped me more than any other player I ever played with," Garnett said.
Garnett planned to be that for players like Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns in his second go-round with the Wolves.
"I wanted to be able to give this back to this young kid now, KAT, and I wanted to give him everything that I had," Garnett said. "And you don't get that over segments, you get that through the course of the year. Now I had him every day, we'd see each other, same thing with Wiggs and I would share myself and share whatever I had to give to the guys, and that's really what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a part of an organization that I could actually have some stake in and some skin into, which I thought I did."
Garnett was to teach, while Mitchell would coach.
"The plan was to have Sam be this leader for the future," Garnett said. "We all agreed that his style was a bit unorthodox, but it was impressionable and it was impactful and, more importantly, it was something that talked."
That, Garnett said, is what young players need in today's NBA.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Our league now is at a point where you have to teach more than anything. AAU has killed our league. Seriously. I hate to even say this, but it's real," Garnett said. "From the perspective that these kids are not being taught anything. They have intentions and they want things but the way they see it is not how our league works. You earn everything in this league. You're not entitled to anything. And it's more entitlement than anything."
It was all part of a process designed to bring Minnesota a championship, something Garnett wanted so badly for the Wolves, but wasn't able to achieve in Minnesota, instead winning one in his first season in Boston after he was traded to the Celtics. The trade to Minnesota provided a second chance to succeed at the highest level for the fans he spent the majority of his career playing in front of.
"They love their Wild, they love their Twins, their Vikings, soccer is getting ready to come in. They love the Gophers," Garnett said. "You know how it is down there. I was more like, 'Let's do this for the city.' "
It played out nearly as planned for the first year-plus, even with the turbulence in the wake of Saunders' tragic death.
Then everything changed as team owner Glen Taylor suddenly decided to move in a new direction, firing Mitchell on the last day of the 2015-16 regular season and later removing general manager Milt Newton. Both Mitchell and Newton were guys Saunders brought into the fold.
Garnett retired in September on the eve of the Wolves' 2016 training camp.
