Doc Rivers and the Clippers had a spot for him. Tom Thibodeau and the Timberwolves would have welcomed him back for another year as well. But Kevin Garnett knew it was time to wave goodbye after giving his heart and soul to the game for the past 21 years. With so few in his inner circle, no one is sure what comes next for the future Hall of Famer. Garnett’s brother-in-law, famed music producer Jimmy “Jam” Harris, has an idea. He shared his thoughts with Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated:
Was it time for KG to retire, and were you sad about the news?
I wasn’t sad, but I am reflective. That is the word I would use right now. I have so many thoughts going through my head. I feel so blessed to know him and watched him throughout his career. Go through bad times. Go through good times. Receive the ultimate, winning the NBA championship. I think that meant everything, and I was able to share in that experience.
It will be interesting to see what he decides to do. There are a lot of people that retire. There are some people that retire and go on and do better things after retirement. The best example of that is Magic Johnson. When you look at Magic, his impact is going to be as a businessman and a trailblazer for AIDS research and HIV. The basketball takes care of itself, and you talk about it, but it’s all the things that he is doing off the court. What he has done off the court is so much bigger for me.
There are certain people that have the opportunity to do that. Michael Jordan is well on his way in doing that with ownership and the things that he is doing. Now he’s become a lot more outspoken, which I think is great. You see the impact that Charles Barkley has on the way the game is covered and even the way it is played and called. People remember him playing, but they will remember Charles Barkley as the guy on TNT. He’s made a legacy after basketball.
There are a few players that will be able to do that, and I think Kevin will be one of those players. It will be very interesting to see what he chooses to do. He’s in a situation where he can choose to do what he wants to do. I think he will excel at whatever he does.
Garnett once said that he will disappear when he retires, and if you want to find him he’ll be playing basketball at the YMCA in Malibu, California. You think he we will be outside of the public eye?
Yes, you probably will see him at the Malibu YMCA playing ball.
I think he has the intention of, ‘You’re not going to see me.’ I think he has way too much to offer. And people that have a lot to offer need to be there for people who needs things. He will be there. He may hide from the spotlight a little bit because that never appealed to him. He’s never tried to be that guy. But I think there is a great future ahead of him that he may not know what it is at this point. And that’s fine.
Would you be surprised to see him on television as an NBA analyst?
No, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on TV. I would enjoy seeing him on TV. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a chance to sit with him to watch a basketball game, but it’s hilarious. It’s unbelievable. I wouldn’t be surprised if he did that. Ownership, he expressed an interest in that. But it’s too bad with Flip passing away. It was a great plan that Flip had. The initial plan was to bring him back, give him the ropes of ownership.
I think he still is interested in that. He has never expressed one definitive thing that he wants to do. That’s why I said there is no rush to me. I’m sure he’s made plans and there are things he wants to do.
