Kevin Garnett is finally getting his place in the Target Center rafters.
According to The Grio, the Minnesota Timberwolves will retire Garnett’s iconic No. 21 on February 28, 2027, following a home game against the Boston Celtics. The ceremony will close one of the longest-running pieces of unfinished business between the Hall of Famer and the franchise he transformed during his career.
Garnett became an NBA champion with Boston in 2008 after leaving Minnesota, and the Celtics retired his No. 5 in 2022. Now, nearly five years later, the Timberwolves will give Garnett the same honor in the city where he became an NBA superstar.
Minnesota took Garnett fifth overall in the 1995 NBA Draft, making the high school phenom one of the players who helped reopen the NBA-to-prep pipeline. He spent his first 12 seasons with the Timberwolves and carried the franchise through its most successful stretch at the time, including eight consecutive playoff appearances.
The high point came in 2004. Garnett was named NBA MVP after averaging 24.2 points, 13.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game while leading Minnesota to 58 wins and its first Western Conference finals appearance.
He was traded to Boston in 2007 and immediately helped the Celtics win a championship before eventually returning to Minnesota in 2015. Garnett retired in 2016 after 21 NBA seasons and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.