Minnesota Timberwolves: 15 greatest moments of Kevin Garnett’s career
By Ben Beecken
10. Monster putback dunk vs. the Kings
While the first two Garnett dunks on this list both happened in the late stages of the previous millennium, a certain generation of Timberwolves fans — yours truly included — likely remembers KG’s enormous putback dunk against the Sacramento Kings at Target Center as the most memorable single slam of his illustrious career.
The 2000-01 Timberwolves were coming off the franchise’s first-ever 50-win season in 1999-2000, as well as their fourth consecutive first-round playoff loss.
The Nov. 4 matchup was the Timberwolves home opener that year and only the third game of the season. The Kings came into the game with a 2-1 record after having won 44 games the year before. When 2000-01 was all said and done, however, Rick Adelman’s crew would finish with an impressive 55 wins while the Wolves slipped to 47.
The Wolves had put on a solid show for the Target Center faithful in the first quarter of the season at home. But before the first quarter was all wrapped up, KG gave the fans what they came to see.
Garnett followed the dunk with a 3-point play with just seven seconds remaining in the frame. That gave The Big Ticket 13 points in the quarter and propelled the Wolves to nine-point lead after the quarter — the same margin by which they’d ultimately win the game.
It’s not often that 7-footers make highlight reels with their dunks, and Garnett wasn’t much of an exception to that rule, save for the trio of slams that made it onto our countdown.