Kevin Garnett will soon be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, but the former MVP may need to wait much longer before being honored by his longtime team.
Garnett, who spent his first 12 NBA seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves and became the franchise’s all-time leader in every significant statistic, doesn’t believe he’ll see his No. 21 retired in the Minneapolis rafters under the ownership of Glen Taylor.
Garnett, who was drafted by the Taylor-owned team out of high school in 1995 and retired with the Timberwolves in 2016, called Taylor a “snake” in a recent interview with The Athletic, claiming that prior to signing with Minnesota for his final season, then-President of Operations/head coach Flip Saunders promised Garnett would “join the ownership group succeeding Taylor and/or being a key decision-maker in the franchise,” but that Taylor scrapped the agreement when Saunders died that fall.
“At this point, I don’t want any dealings with Glen Taylor or Taylor Corp. or anything that has to do with him,” Garnett said. “I love my Timberwolves, I’ll always love my guys, I’ll always love the people who f— with me there. I’ll always have a special place for the city of Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota in my heart. But I don’t do business with snakes. I don’t do business with snake motherf——. I try not to do business with openly snakes or people who are snake-like.”
Garnett doesn’t appear open to mending fences with Taylor — and doesn’t seem concerned it may cost him his rightful place in the rafters.
“Glen knows where I’m at, I’m not entertaining it,” said Garnett, who was named MVP with the team in 2004. “First of all, it’s not genuine. Two, he’s getting pressure from a lot of fans and, I guess, the community there. Glen and I had an understanding before Flip died, and when Flip died, that understanding went with Flip. For that, I won’t forgive Glen. I won’t forgive him for that. I thought he was a straight up person, straight up business man, and when Flip died, everything went with him. There’s no reason to complain. Just continue to move on. My years in Minnesota and in that community, I cherish.”
The Celtics announced in February that Garnett’s No. 5 will be retired during the 2020-21 season. Garnett spent six years in Boston, winning NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2008) as he led the Celtics to their first championship in 22 years.