Kevin Garnett says he's bidding to buy Timberwolves after report they're up for sale
Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is making preparations to sell the team, Sportico reports.
Shortly after the news broke, franchise icon Kevin Garnett wrote on Instagram that he’s part of a group bidding to buy the franchise.
“I’m one of the groups trying,” Garnett wrote on an Instagram story next to the news report that offers on the team have already been made. “Lawd plss let my group get this.”
A successful bid by Garnett’s group would put an emphatic end to his impasse with the franchise where he built his Hall of Fame career. Garnett has held a longstanding feud with Taylor and has disassociated himself from the franchise as long as Taylor was involved.
In February, he said that he didn’t want his jersey retired with the team.
‘I don’t do business with snakes’
“I’ll always have a special place for the city of Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota in my heart,” Garnett said at the time. “But I don’t do business with snakes. I don’t do business with snake motherf------. I try not to do business with openly snakes or people who are snake-like.”
It appears that Garnett will make an exception to his “snake” rule if the business entails taking over ownership from Taylor. He took a conciliatory tone later Tuesday in reference to Taylor.
My passion for the Minnesota Timberwolves to be a championship team is
well known but I have a deeper affection for the city of Minneapolis. I
once again want to see Minneapolis as the diverse and loving community
that I know it is. (1/2)— Kevin Garnett (@KevinGarnett5KG) July 21, 2020
No two people love the city more than myself
and Glen Taylor and I look forward to trying to work with him to
achieve my dream. (2/2)— Kevin Garnett (@KevinGarnett5KG) July 21, 2020
It’s safe to say that if Garnett gains an ownership stake, his No. 21 jersey will be raised in the Target Center rafters.
Garnett’s legacy in Minnesota
Garnett joined the Timberwolves out of high school as the No. 5 pick in the 1995 draft. He played his first 12 NBA seasons with the Timberwolves, making 10 All-Star teams. After winning an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics and a brief stint with the Brooklyn Nets, Garnett returned to the Timberwolves before retiring in 2016 as the best player in the history of the franchise.
He was elected to the The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on his first ballot and was scheduled to be inducted alongside Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant this year before the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the ceremony.
Why Garnett is feuding with Taylor
Garnett’s feud with Taylor started after he said the Timberwolves owner failed to honor a deal they had along with former general manager and head coach Flip Saunders. Garnett says that when he waived a no-trade clause to return to the Timberwolves from Nets, it came with an understanding that he would join team ownership and play a front-office role after he retired.
He says Taylor backed out of that arrangement when Saunders died of Hodgkin lymphoma in 2015.
“Glen and I had an understanding before Flip died, and when Flip died, that understanding went with Flip,” Garnett said. “For that, I won’t forgive Glen. I won’t forgive him for that. I thought he was a straight-up person, straight-up business man, and when Flip died, everything went with him.”
It’s not clear who Garnett is partnered with in his bid for the franchise. Taylor, 79, is seeking at least $1.2 billion for the franchise, according to Sportico. He bought the Timberwolves in 1994 for $88 million.
Several groups have placed bids for the team, and a sale could be completed within a month, according to the report.
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