National Basketball Association

The top 10 moments of Kevin Garnett's NBA career

Published Nov. 15, 2016 3:04 p.m. ET

Dan Carson

Kevin Garnett has played his last game for the Minnesota Timberwolves and as an NBA player, as the 40-year-old power forward announced that he will end his career after 21 seasons.

With this in mind, we take a look back at the long, tumultuous ride of Garnett's career — one that has spanned multiple generations of superstars, multiple high profile beefs and more double-doubles than can be counted.

It all started in 1995, when a gangly, talented kid from Chicago took the stage at the NBA Draft and became the first high-school-to-pro talent in two decades.

Draft Night

Drafted fifth overall in 1995 at the age of 19 by the Minnesota Timberwolves, Kevin Garnett was the first high school player in 20 years to make the jump directly to the NBA.

Rookie Kevin Garnett drops 33 on the Celtics

Utterly dominated the Celtics after being inserted at the small forward position. A fitting preview of dominance to come.

The Stephon Marbury beef

Both wanted to be Batman, and it drove the former teammates and friends into a petty war of words after Marbury asked to be traded away from Minnesota.

The Garnett-Duncan rivalry

Nike found a way to bring the fierce on-court rivalry between Garnett and Tim Duncan into a more amiable light with this mid-2000s television spot.

The 2003-04 MVP Season

Averaged 24.2 points and 13.9 rebounds a game. Also chipped in five assists and more than two blocks per contest. He was magic.

Kevin Garnett: Ready for War

“I’m sitting in the house loading up the pump, I’m loading up the Uzis, I’ve got a couple of M-16s, couple of nines, couple of joints with some silencers on them, couple of grenades. I got a missile launcher ... I’m ready for war.”

The Big Ticket got deep into the thick of over-the-top war metaphors before Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals in 2004. He would later apologize for the remarks: "I didn't mean to offend anybody."

Career-high 47 points against Phoenix

In 2005, Garnett dropped a career-high 47 points against the Phoenix Suns at the Target Center. He went 19 for 28 from the field and shot nine for 11 from the stripes, grabbed 17 rebounds, had two assists and two steals. He unleashed the entire bag of tricks in his possession, and the Suns still won 122-115. Womp womp.

“Anything is Possibllllle”

An overwhelmed Kevin Garnett coins the phrase of his career after winning his first and only NBA championship after the 2008 Finals. He was certified, and he wasn’t going to sleep for a week.

Garnett wins 2007-08 DPOY

The 2007-08 season marked the beginning of the decline of Garnett’s drop-off in offensive impact. He still managed a healthy 18.8 points per game in his first year with the Boston Celtics, but the figure was still a nearly four-point decrease fro me the 22-point scoring plateau he’d maintained since the 1999-00 season. Nevertheless, he found way to cut down on turnovers and wreak havoc on defense, earning him his first and only Defensive Player of the Year award.

The Return to Minnesota

After a less-than-amiable departure from Minnesota, the Timberwolves brought Garnett back into fold in 2015, sending longtime fans into a frenzy.

The Goodbye

Dan is on Twitter. It was fun, KG.