Kevin Garnett: 2020 Hall of Fame Inductee

This comes as no surprise, but now it’s official. Kevin Garnett, by far and away the greatest player in franchise history, will be one of the latest members of the Naismath Basketball Hall of Fame. He is joined in the 2020 class by headliners such as Tim Duncan, and the late Kobe Bryant. The formal announcement will be made later tonight during a special presentation on ESPN.

Finally, the Timberwolves have a Hall of Famer. I’m sure much will be made of the jersey retirement situation, but this should really just be a time for us to appreciate KG.

Let’s start with his accolades: 15x All-Star, 12x All-Defense, 9x All-NBA, All-Star Game MVP, League MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and lastly, NBA Champion.

Sure, he didn’t win the title in Minnesota, but that was certainly through no fault of his own.

KG brought relevance to basketball in Minnesota. He made people, like me, care and fall in love with the sport. From the turnaround jumpers to the ahead-of-his-time play-making and most importantly, the heart, hustle, and effort. He was a competitor and winner in the truest sense. He played basketball “the right way.”

It’s also fitting that Garnett goes in with two of his most fearsome rivals, and worthy contemporaries. KG and Tim Duncan are on the (very) short list of best Power Forwards of all time, and their battles throughout the years were must-watch. Garnett battled with Kobe in their earlier years, as the Lakers were the one team that really just had the Wolves number, mostly due to overall quality of roster. It’s hard to think of two players who shared a competitive, winning mindset than those two.

These three anchor one of the greatest classes in the history of the Hall of Fame, and that only feels right.

Kevin Garnett, Hall of Famer. Comment below with your favorite KG moments!