After witnessing his former side advance to the Western Conference Finals after nearly two decades, Wolves legend Kevin Garnett joined Stephen A. Smith to talk about the team’s brilliance along with the leadership brought on by Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards. While praising what Ant-Man and KAT have been able to do, KG drew comparisons between his relationship with former Wolves star, Stephon Marbury.
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“When he (Anthony Edwards) got into the league, he started to evolve into something else. We knew that he was explosive, we knew he had a charismatic personality, but you can see the evolution of this kid growing. He gets with Pat (Patrick Beverley), be with some dogs like Vanderbilt and all those guys and he starts taking on that.”
“And then, after a while, you start hearing like the team starts to take on that personality and I give Karl-Anthony Towns a lot of credit. He understands that Ant is this great, great of a presence and he’s allowed him to lead. And they’re leading together, it’s no bullsh*t, it’s none of that KG and Steph sh*t, it ain’t none of that.”
Kevin Garnett spoke on the evolution of Anthony Edwards’ personality by spending time with former players like Patrick Beverley and Jared Vanderbilt to name a few. But more importantly, Garnett emphasized what Karl-Anthony Towns did for Edwards and the team.
KAT was the team’s former first-overall pick in the NBA draft back in 2016. Towns went on to win the Rookie of the Year award and also solidified himself as the leader of the Minnesota Timberwolves along with making three All-Star appearances.
So, for Karl-Anthony Towns to put his ego aside and not just welcome Edwards into the team but let him lead the squad is something Kevin Garnett was highly impressed with, as he could not do the same during his time with the Wolves along with Stephon Marbury.
Back in the late 90s, Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury had a chance to build a dynasty in Minnesota. These two were just starting their careers with the Wolves and could’ve gone on to become a great one-two punch for opposing teams. Unfortunately, Marbury wanted to be the sole attraction on the team and could not handle the attention given to Garnett which ultimately led to the duo breaking up.
Garnett doesn’t see this as an issue with the current Wolves squad, as they’re all focused on winning instead of making a name for themselves.
KG’s emphasis on Anthony Edwards and KAT’s relationship
Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards quickly developed a great relationship with one another as soon as the two started playing together. These two stars have often been seen joking around with one another in post-game press conferences and off the court.
This is something Kevin Garnett emphasized when talking about these two stars. During the late 90’s, the Minnesota Timberwolves had a young KG and Stephon Marbury who was traded to the team but could not work out their differences.
These two showed great promise and potential on the floor but Marbury could not handle the fact that Garnett was the main star of the team. He requested a trade and that Wolves’ squad ended up being another ‘What could’ve been’ story in the NBA.
Marbury went on to become a star in the latter half of his career and KG led the Wolves to the Western Conference Finals in 2004. But one can’t help but think how far Minnesota would’ve gone, had Marbury not left the team.
Luckily for Wolves fans, the relationship between Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards is far from what KG and Marbury have. And now that the Wolves are back in the WCF, let’s see how far they go this time.
