Minnesota Timberwolves icon Kevin Garnett officially became a Hall-of-Famer on Saturday as he was selected for enshrinement alongside a star-studded 2020 class.
Truthfully, there was zero suspense surrounding Saturday’s announcement regarding which finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame would ultimately be enshrined. But it’s official now nonetheless, as Minnesota Timberwolves franchise icon Kevin Garnett was selected for enshrinement alongside long-time rival Tim Duncan and the late Kobe Bryant.
In addition to the three players that were shoe-ins, six others were selected as part of the class.
We’ve spent plenty of time here at Dunking With Wolves discussing Garnett’s accolades and his credentials for enshrinement.
Most recently, the Boston Celtics announced that KG would have his No. 5 jersey retired at TD Garden at some point during the 2020-21 season — an honor that Garnett has not yet received from the Timberwolves, although the player is no doubt partially responsible for the lack of a No. 21 jersey hanging in the rafters at Target Center.
On Saturday morning, Garnett gave a very Garnett-like quote regarding his selection.
"“It’s the culmination,” Garnett told ESPN during Saturday’s broadcast. “It’s the culmination, man. You put countless hours into this. You dedicate yourself to a craft. You take no days off. You play through injures. You play through demise. You play through obstacles. You give no excuses for anything. You learn, you build."
ESPN’s Kevin Pelton examined the trio of new Hall-of-Famers in the context of other star-studded classes, and found that only one exceeded the grouping of Garnett, Bryant, and Duncan in terms of “championships added”, a metric that Pelton put together himself.
Predictably, the only class that beat out this one was the 2009 group that featured none other than Michael Jordan, backed up by David Robinson and John Stockton. Of the six players across both classes, Stockton was in last place in Pelton’s metric, with Garnett and Robinson tying for fourth. (In short, the metric uses Basketball-Reference’s Win Shares metric and considers both regular season and postseason performance.)
At any rate, this is a historic class. From the Wolves fan’s perspective, it’s the only Hall of Fame class featuring a figure whose primary franchise was the Timberwolves.
The enshrinement festivities will be on Aug. 28, so we have some time to get ready. But in the midst of a global pandemic and an NBA hiatus, this is a fun and necessary diversion for Timberwolves fans.