MINNEAPOLIS -- Even if his financial advisor, Charles Banks, had never approached him earlier this month about a possible return to Minnesota, the encyclopedia of Kevin Garnett tales still would've comprised an entire section of the NBA annals library.
There's the one where Timberwolves equipment manager Clayton Wilson had to hide Garnett's uniform from him because he refused to sit out an exhibition game. Or when assistant coach Ryan Saunders, then Garnett's 10-year-old "gofer," would shag rebounds for the future Hall of Fame power forward, then run an errand to his car or grab him a hot dog from the concession stands.
The favors came with rewards; coach Flip Saunders' son wore plenty of gear from whatever brand Garnett was endorsing at the time. But they also came with lessons. If the younger Saunders didn't sprint after the ball or deliver passes at chest height, he'd hear about it.
"That's one of the great things about him is that he holds people accountable," Ryan Saunders said, "but more than that, he holds himself accountable, and he expects everybody else to try to get up to that level."
There were the practice sessions where a young, spry Garnett would bang bodies with his veteran mentor, current Minnesota aide Sam Mitchell, and tell him if he was too tired and couldn't handle it, he should quit. And Sidney Lowe, a Wolves assistant then as now, working with Garnett after practices and watching him power his way through the post with every possible ounce of energy and attention to the most minute detail.
And that was against a phantom defender visible only to the mind's eye of the 15-time All-Star, 2004 MVP and 2007 NBA champion.
"I'm thinking, 'Wow. This is different,'" Lowe said. "Then continuing to watch, I knew he was going to be great."
There were the 5XL pants Garnett used to wear during an era when baggy was in, the talcum powder he'd clap in the faces of reporters on the Target Center sidelines, the times he hid in his hotel room as a 19-year-old rookie and those early-summer nights in 2004 when he brought droves of locals to 600 First Avenue North with their thunder sticks and championship aspirations.
But such is Garnett's influence that his return to the place he never wanted to spurn adds another volume to the bookshelf.
Re-introduced at a press conference Tuesday, Garnett took a locker next to his old one in order to avoid displacing rookie Zach LaVine. He was the first Wolves player in the weight room Tuesday morning. He chided center Nikola Pekovic for his lack of defensive hustle during practice.
It extends beyond Garnett's first day back. Point guard Ricky Rubio used to pick the Wolves on his PlayStation so he could throw fantastical assists to Garnett's NBA 2K character. Rookie Adreian Payne's AAU coach told him he could develop a skill set similar to Garnett's, so The Big Ticket became Payne's favorite player. Dozens of fans lined up for season-ticket packages during Friday's home game against Phoenix the day after the team traded for Garnett. A sellout is expected for his "debut" Wednesday night against Washington. Nearly 7,000 single-game tickets for this season have been sold since the trade.
"There's no question that KG is an icon here," Flip Saunders said. "I look at him and I look at Kirby Puckett with the Twins in the same type of light."
The term "legend" has a post-mortem, nostalgic connotation about it. But Garnett's decision to waive his no-trade clause with Brooklyn and finish out his career in the Twin Cities -- where he still keeps a home on Lake Minnetonka -- links the Wolves' past, present and future in a way only their best-ever player can.
"I will say it does feel like full circle," Garnett said. "It's perfect. If you have a story, this is a fairytale, this is a perfect ending to it. This is how you want to do it. A lot of guys that want to come back to the origin don't have the option to (do so). I'm fortunate to have the possibility to do just that."
The 38-year-old, 20-year veteran will spend the next 27 games nurturing Minnesota's young core, one of the main facets that attracted him when his camp and the Wolves began preliminary trade discussions in the past three weeks. He can share his experiences of being drafted straight out of high school with 19-year-old rookie of the year candidate Andrew Wiggins and his leadership expertise with fellow franchise face Ricky Rubio.
Garnett got right to it Tuesday, introducing himself to his new teammates and refreshing himself on the finer points of Saunders' schemes, with which he became quite familiar during a decade under his friend and coach.
"I was kind of excited and afraid at the same time; he's KG, you know?" Rubio said after practice Tuesday. "Whatever he says, we are going to listen and do it."
Garnett's tenacity and infamously demanding style can indeed be intimidating. But he's not going to throw any of his teammates' phones in the toilet, as Saunders suggested he might if they're being used too frequently in the locker room before games.
"I've never thrown anyone in the toilet, the trash can. I don't know where you get these stories from," Garnett said. "I'm very respectable. I'm a very respectable teammate. I've always been. I like to pride myself on being a good teammate. . . . I like things to be professional at all times. I respect the locker room and when we're on the court, it's about working and working hard. That I won't give and, you know, settle for mediocre.
"That's how I've been able to last so long. That's who I am. That's my make-up. I don't think I'm going to change that. I hope that it obviously rubs off on other guys here."
Said Wiggins, who was four months old when the Wolves picked Garnett fifth overall in the 1995 draft: "He's 38. He came in at like 9:30 this morning. First one in the gym. . . . He lets nothing slide."
And LaVine: "I feel like we all getting ready to get used to it. We'll start coming in a little bit earlier, getting dressed a little faster, getting on the table a little faster, just to prepare ourselves."
The impact isn't necessarily limited to the youngsters, though.
"It'll be a shock to some of the old guys, too," Saunders said.
"Any time you can play with a Hall of Famer that can teach you so many things on a leadership level, a playing level, I think it's going to be impactful," 11th-year shooting guard Kevin Martin said. "It doesn't matter where you're at in your career."
If Garnett's demeanor isn't enough to grab the young guys' attention, his accomplishments should be. At present, he ranks second all-time in defensive rebounds, fifth in minutes played, sixth in games played, eighth in total rebounds and 14th in scoring. After eight seasons away, he's still Minnesota's all-time leading scorer, rebounder, steals producer and shot blocker.
Today, he can only do those things in spurts. But this is about much more than what little production Garnett has left in the tank -- whether he retires after this season or, as the team expects, signs a deal to keep playing beyond this year.
When his illustrious playing days do finally come to an end, Garnett doesn't want to coach -- "that's a big 'H-E-L-L N-A-H,'" he spelled out Tuesday -- but does have his sights set on buying the Wolves from owner Glen Taylor. As one source with knowledge of the situation put it last week, this reunion "greases the wheels" for such a course of action.
But that doesn't mean this was a no-brainer. On the court, Garnett is loyally fierce, but off it, he's fiercely loyal. The notion of picking up his wife Brandi and their two daughters and leaving the Nets midseason bothered him, he said.
He wouldn't have approved a trade in any other situation, Garnett said.
"Kevin doesn't like change," Saunders said last week. "That's how he's always been. But I think when he looks back, he doesn't think (of) moving from Brooklyn to here as a big change. I think he looks at it (as) moving back and being home."
It was Garnett's standoffishness toward change and loyalty to "'Sota," as he calls, it that angered him when Taylor, despite requests to the contrary, dealt him to Boston in 2007. Garnett teamed with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to win the Larry O'Brien Trophy in 2008, but not before a war of words in the media between him and Taylor following the trade.
All is well now, Garnett said. He and Saunders have maintained a close relationship. Same with Mitchell.
Since his departure, Garnett hasn't kept in contact with Taylor. But both say they're looking forward to making whatever amends are necessary.
"You know what, throughout time, I've understood that you have to forgive and forget," Garnett said. "I obviously won't forget certain things, but it's time to move on from certain things. I've seen (former president and current Rockets coach) Kevin McHale the last couple years, and it's been a better relationship than how it was. Flip and I have always had open communication and a great relationship, even when we went on to Detroit and Boston.
"Glen and I always had an understanding. I wouldn't have came back if the relationship was to the point where it's not ... reachable or something like that. I would not have come back if it wasn't a chance that I can refurbish it or it was going to get better. I'm looking forward to this opportunity, and I'm embracing this change."
One of the men who knows Garnett best said that's not just lip service.
"He's happy, man," Mitchell said. "And I know him. I know when he's BSing me, and I know when he's sincere. He's sincere."
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