After years of estrangement, Kevin Garnett will reunite with Timberwolves, have jersey retired

Kevin Garnett is a member of the Timberwolves once again.

After nearly a decade of estrangement from the franchise over disputes with former owner Glen Taylor, Garnett has rejoined the organization that drafted him, one for which he played in 14 of his 21 NBA seasons.

The mending of fences between Garnett and the Wolves also paves the way for the team to retire Garnett’s No. 21 jersey, although a date hasn’t been chosen yet. Garnett has already had his No. 5 jersey retired by the Celtics. He won an NBA title with Boston in 2008.

Garnett will have a role on the business side of the Wolves that involves fan engagement and content development. Owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez have made it a priority to build a relationship with the Hall of Famer after Garnett had a falling out with Taylor following the death of former coach and team executive Flip Saunders in 2015.

The connection between Lore, Rodriguez and Garnett took time to develop over the last four years before Garnett agreed to this role. But from the time they joined the ownership group, Lore and Rodriguez made it a point to build a relationship with Garnett and spoke publicly about their desire to see him back with the team in some capacity.

“He’s the [greatest of all time] in Minnesota, and we have a tremendous respect for KG,” Lore said in July. “We would love to get close to him, and we know the fans want to see that and we want to see that, too.”

As part of the agreement, Garnett will attend select games during the season. His role will not be on the basketball side of the operation; he will not be advising the coaching staff or the front office. The jersey retirement was a key part of the agreement to Garnett back, with Kelly Laferriere, the chief business officer of A-Rod Corp. and the Wolves’ senior advisor to ownership, helping to bring the sides together behind the scenes.

He said in a 2020 interview with the Athletic he “won’t forgive” Taylor for what happened. He also would not participate in any jersey retirement the team attempted to have while Taylor was still owner.

Garnett expressed interest in being part of an ownership group that bought the team when Taylor eventually reached a deal with Lore and Rodriguez in 2021. After saying Lore and Rodriguez did not fulfill terms of the ownership agreement, Taylor tried to retain majority control of the team via arbitration in 2024 and 2025. Rodriguez and Lore prevailed in arbitration in a 2-1 ruling in February, and Taylor eventually sold controlling ownership to Lore and Rodriguez in June. That allowed for the mending of fences between Garnett and the Wolves.

Garnett is the only Wolves player to win MVP in the team’s uniform, winning it in 2004, the same year the team made its first Western Conference finals appearance.