Minnesota Timberwolves: Who Kevin Garnett mentioned in his Hall of Fame Enshrinement Speech

After waiting a full year for induction, Minnesota Timberwolves great Kevin Garnett has finally been enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Class of 2020, including Garnett’s rival big man Tim Duncan and the late Kobe Bryant, was enshrined on Saturday. Garnett gave a speech of roughly seven minutes and mentioned several former players and coaches affiliated with the Timberwolves organization.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Who Kevin Garnett mentioned in his Hall of Fame Enshrinement Speech

Garnett’s speech walked the audience through his life, from growing up in rural South Carolina, to his time in Chicago as a prep player, to his time in Minnesota. He also talked about his years with the Boston Celtics and even his brief stint with the Brooklyn Nets before mentioning his rewarding experience at the Olympics with USA Basketball.

When talking about his relationships in Minnesota, Garnett talked about “rebuilding” Minneapolis and his desire to be part of that process, presumably referring to the deaths of both George Floyd and Daunte Wright over the past year and the ensuing unrest in the Twin Cities.

The Big Ticket also discussed regret regarding his inability to bring a championship to Minnesota.

Of course, Garnett also thanked a slew of former teammates and coaches: Kevin McHale (who was in attendance), the late Flip Saunders, former teammate and coach Sam Mitchell, Sam Cassell, Gary Trent, Troy Hudson, and Trenton Hassell.

It was not a surprise that he did not mention current Wolves owner Glen Taylor, with whom he’s feuded off and on over the years. Most recently, Garnett claims that Taylor was not forthcoming with him about a desire to purchase the franchise, while Taylor claims that Garnett was never part of a group that made an offer.

Here’s the speech in its entirety:

KG went on to thank Boston, and, in what was certainly not an unintentional bit of speech writing/delivering, thanked Celtics ownership in his opening sentence.

It was a great speech from Garnett, who also drew headlines for failing to mention former Celtics teammates Ray Allen and Rajon Rando.

Notably, he closed by genuinely thanking and congratulating Tim Duncan, who is, um, not the biggest fan of The Big Ticket.

At any rate, congrats to Garnett, Duncan, the Bryant family, and all the other inductees.