Coach Expects Kevin Garnett to Return for 21st NBA Season
Minnesota Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders said Monday he believes star center Kevin Garnett will return for a 21st NBA season next year.
Garnett is not expected to play in the Wolves' finale against Oklahoma City on Wednesday due to lingering knee pain. Saunders said that if he did play, he believes it would be an indication that Garnett would be retiring.
"He's looking at this as not being over," Saunders said. "He doesn't want to do anything for one or two games to jeopardize or throw him back to not be able to really start and get ready."
Garnett has only played in five of 25 games since his emotional return to the Timberwolves, the team where he started his NBA career, in a trade with Brooklyn earlier this year.
Garnett spent his first 12 seasons in Minnesota before leaving to win an NBA title with the Boston Celtics. He spent 1½ forgettable years in Brooklyn before Saunders reacquired him in a trade for Thaddeus Young. Garnett's return brought an initial jolt to a franchise that had fallen on hard times since he left in 2007.
The Wolves entered the game Monday tied with the Knicks for fewest wins in the NBA with 16.
Garnett will be a free agent in July. The Associated Press reported when the trade happened that the Wolves wanted to bring Garnett back after this season and that this was more than just one last farewell tour.
Garnett said when he came back that he would take some time this summer to think about his future before making a decision about possibly returning for a 21st season.
Source: Associated Press
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