Kevin Garnett Retires: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

Ending what is one of the greatest careers in modern NBA history, Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett announced his retirement after 21 seasons.  

Per Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune, Garnett and the Timberwolves reached an agreement Friday on a contract buyout.

Garnett, 40, walks away from a career that should result in a first-class ticket to Springfield, Massachusetts, as an inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.  

After returning to the Timberwolves via trade in February 2015, Garnett signed a two-year contract extension last summer that was set to expire after the 2016-17 season before his buyout. 

He made 15 All-Star appearances, 12 All-Defensive teams, nine All-NBA teams and won one MVP in his career, averaging 17.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.

He split his 21 seasons across three teams, although two are far more prominent than the other. He spent parts of 14 of those campaigns in Minnesota and another six in Boston, and he was a Brooklyn Net for a year-and-a-half. The latter tenure was the worst of his career, as the Nets went from preseason championship contenders in 2013 to one of the biggest high-cost failures in league history.

Garnett’s triumphant return to Minnesota, which lasted all of 43 regular-season games, came after he’d exhausted all options in making Brooklyn a success. Viewed as a pseudo-retirement party to some, he started 38 games in 2015-16 and took on a mentorship role to the young Minnesota roster.

Karl-Anthony Towns wrote in GQ: 

KG is one of a kind. He’s not one of a kind once every other day or week. He’s one of a kind every single day, and that’s what makes him special. Something small like tipping a ball out of bounds on defense will happen and we’ll clap, but …

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