There aren’t many athletes in history who are so synonymous with a single franchise, but actually won their only title with someone else. The NHL has Ray Bourque, who spent almost 21 years with the Boston Bruins before finally winning a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche. Bourque was so beloved that the city of Boston even threw him a parade to celebrate his win.
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In the NBA, Boston has seen the other side of that, because the Celtics won their 17th championship largely behind the efforts of Kevin Garnett. The Big Ticket rewrote the Minnesota Timberwolves’ record book during his 14 seasons there, but he never experienced the ultimate team success until he was traded to the Celtics, winning the title in his first year with the team.
Just like Bourque, Garnett is beloved by fans of his original team, but unfortunately for all involved, he’s completely disassociated himself with the Wolves due to his strained relationship with former team owner Glen Taylor.
According to Garnett, Taylor reneged on some sort of agreement to give him a prominent front office role once he retired after Flip Saunders, his former coach, tragically passed away.
Garnett was so bitter about how things went down with Taylor that he’s even refused to have his jersey retired this whole time, even as the Celtics retired his jersey in 2022.
Now that Taylor has finally ceded ownership to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, Shams Charania is reporting that KG is finally coming home.
Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett is reuniting with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Lynx in a new, all-encompassing role involving business, community efforts and content development, sources told ESPN. His long-awaited No. 21 Wolves jersey retirement will also happen in Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/DedJhDezd3
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 18, 2025
This is exciting news not just for Timberwolves fans, but for the entire NBA community. Garnett is by far the greatest player in Timberwolves history, and he’s still the franchise’s all-time leader in games played, minutes, points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
Having him be estranged from the Wolves over a disagreement with Taylor is like the Charles Oakley-James Dolan thing only a hundred times worse.
Garnett’s passion for the game is still evident. He still mentors young players, and on his KG Certified podcast, that trademark intensity often comes out. Convincing him to come back in such a meaningful role is a huge win for Lore and A-Rod, and the surest sign yet that the Taylor days really are over.
