Back to the beginning

Kevin Garnett begins his 21st NBA season Wednesday in Los Angeles against the Lakers by playing his 1,425th regular-season game. Here's a look at the first one he ever played:

Friday, Nov. 3, 1995, at Sacramento

Kings 95, Wolves 86

Garnett's stat line: He played 16 minutes off the bench, went 4-for-4 from the field, scored eight points and had a rebound, an assist and a personal foul.

How long ago was it?

• Bill Blair coached the Wolves that night. Flip Saunders didn't take over for another 19 games.

• Current interim coach Sam Mitchell started for the Wolves alongside Terry Porter, Christian Laettner, Tom Gugliotta and Doug West.

• Current Memphis coach Dave Joerger was a 21-year-old college kid and had just transferred schools two blocks away in Moorhead, Minn. He later coached five teams in four different minor leagues across the Dakotas and Iowa for a decade before the Grizzlies hired him as an assistant in 2007. "Is that when it was?" he asked. "Wow. He's the best, man. I love that guy."

Jerry Zgoda