Minnesota Timberwolves: 15 greatest moments of Kevin Garnett’s career

8. The Return

When Garnett finally accepted that the best thing for his career was to be traded away from the Timberwolves franchise and Minnesota fanbase that he had been so fiercely loyal to, it didn’t seem likely that he’d ever come back.

Wolves owner Glen Taylor had some not-so-flattering comments about Garnett in the wake of the trade, and there were plenty of bridges that certainly appeared to be burned.

Six years after Garnett was traded and eight since Flip Saunders had been fired, the latter rejoined the organization as front office boss. Saunders was tasked with fixing a mess left behind by David Kahn, and after two years in the front office and the retirement of then-head coach Rick Adelman, Saunders hired himself as head coach and rejoined the bench.

It only took until February of Saunders’ first year back as coach for him to trade for Garnett, who by this time was in his second season with the floundering Brooklyn Nets.

There were some hurdles to overcome in order to convince Garnett to waive his no-trade clause and agree to come to Minnesota (remember, Garnett and Taylor butted heads again following Saunders’ death and prior to KG’s retirement), but Flip was able to pull it off.

While reactions to the trade itself were mixed (in my own head, in fact), the game was electric.

The team needed to release extra standing-room only tickets to accommodate the crowd. Local television ratings spiked between six and seven times what the team had been pulling that season prior to Garnett’s return.

This was a special moment, and while Saunders’ tragic death came less than eight months later and Garnett’s second stint with the Wolves did not end as anyone would have hoped, Feb. 24, 2015 remains a memorable night for fans of Minnesota basketball.