Former Timberwolves Owner Pushes Blame Back on KG

The Minnesota Timberwolves have officially changed hands. After Glen Taylor attempted to squeeze additional value out of his appreciating asset through arbitration, the NBA ultimately voted to approve Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore as the franchise’s new owners.

One of their first orders of business was bringing back franchise legend Kevin Garnett. His No. 21 has long deserved a place in the rafters at Target Center. And now, with Glen Taylor out of the picture, it will… though we still do not know when.

LFGGGGGGGGGGGGG pic.twitter.com/MnbSbXsKfx

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 24, 2025

Taylor’s relationship with Garnett deteriorated beyond repair years ago. In the past decade, it’s been KG regularly making comments about the MN Timberwolves’ former owner, calling him a snake and vowing never to do business with him again.

Glen Taylor blames KG for his absence from MN Timberwolves

Glen, meanwhile, has always maintained publicly that Target Center is a safe space for Kevin Garnett. What Glen has not discussed publicly is the reasoning behind KG’s frustration, or even that its roots lie with him.

Now that Garnett’s return has been announced, Pioneer Press columnist Charley Walters went back to Taylor for his thoughts. And… well, it’s nice to know some things will never change.

Glen Taylor, when he owned the Timberwolves, on the recent front office return to the Wolves of Kevin Garnett, who finally will have his No. 21 jersey retired by the team: “For five different years I checked with him to see if he would be willing to do it, and he chose not to do it.”

Pioneer Press

It’s the classic, ‘Who, me?’ excuse.

Kevin Garnett: Still the greatest Wolf of all-time

Selected fifth overall straight out of high school in the 1995 NBA Draft, a move that was unheard of at the time, Kevin Garnett averaged 19.8 points per game in 970 games wearing a Minnesota Timberwolves uniform.

He owns the franchise’s only league MVP, which came in 2003-04 — the year he averaged 24.2 points, 13.9 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.2 blocks per game.

By the time the Hall-of Famer finally hung up his sneakers, Kevin Garnett had played for three different teams, was named to 15-All-Star teams and (most importantly) became an NBA champion (Boston Celtics – 2008).

May 19, 2004: On his 28th birthday, Kevin Garnett finishes with 32 PTS/21 REB/5 BLK/4 STL in Minnesota's 83-80 Game 7 win over the Sacramento Kings in the WCSF.

Sam Cassell added 23 PTS/7 AST for the Timberwolves, who advanced to face the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. pic.twitter.com/kzH5vlj1RD

— NBA Cobwebs (@NBACobwebs) May 19, 2025

Glen Taylor would be smart to shut his mouth

No matter what Taylor says, he stands no chance against the most popular player he ever paid, whether Garnett’s shunning is his fault or not. Thankfully, with Lore and Rodriguez now at the helm, we don’t have to worry about how much KG hates the richest man in Minnesota.

The new ownership group spent years fostering their relationship with “The Big Ticket,” and it’s now paying off. That’s all fans care about.

Related: Karl-Anthony Towns Can’t Stop Missing Minnesota

So unless the Wolves longtime owner is ready to read off an official apology statement, the best thing Glen Taylor could do, regarding this matter, is never make public comments about it again.

As part of his outgoing purchase agreement, Glen Taylor will keep his courtside seats at Target Center. Even if he and KG do wind up in the building on the same night, hopefully he doesn’t expect Kevin to come say hi.