They won a championship together in Boston back in 2008. Doc Rivers once called him his favorite player ever to coach. So before Kevin Garnett crossed the threshold into retirement, Rivers offered the 21-year veteran one more change to continue his playing career in Los Angeles, according to Jackie MacMullan of ESPN.com:
“I would have absolutely been interested in bringing him here. You always find a place for a guy like that, whose voice in the locker room is so strong, so clear, so impactful.
“He’s such a great teacher in practice. He should start a course in leadership. The NBA should designate who the best player is on each team and then they could bring Kevin in and he could teach them how to be the best player and the best leader. Better yet, they could bring him and Tim [Duncan] in and they could teach it together and show people how it can be done in two completely opposite ways.”
Garnett was encouraged by friend, confidant and former coach Flip Saunders to sign a two-year, $16 million contract with the Timberwolves in 2015. Saunders envisioned KG as a mentor for the young team he was building, but also planned to include Garnett as a part-owner in a group that Saunders was assembling to buy the team.
Saunders died of Hodgkin lymphoma in October 2015, at the age of 60. Minnesota hired Sam Mitchell, another close Garnett ally, as the interim coach to replace Saunders.
KG, hobbled by knee woes, averaged just 14.2 minutes and 3.2 points per game last season, but became a trusted mentor to Karl-Anthony Towns, the young big man who is the centerpiece of the Timberwolves’ rebuilding effort.
“You know how much I’m gonna miss playing with you and just simply having you around,” Towns wrote on Instagram . “Congrats on having one of the greatest careers the game has ever seen. We talked. I know what I must do. I’ll take it from here.”
