If we’re honest, there never was any question as to whether or not Kevin Garnett was returning to the Brooklyn Nets for the 2014-15 season. For one, Garnett is a competitor, and even if he continues to decline this season after 2013-14 tough go of things, just the mere chance for one strong comeback is enough to motivate such a return.
Secondly, he was never going to be traded anywhere. His value on the trade market, sadly, is at an all-time low. This is also a guy with a no-trade clause that had to be convinced to be dealt from the pitiful Minnesota Timberwolves to a champion-in-waiting with the Celtics back in 2007 after four lottery trips. He may have waived that trade clause to join Brooklyn in 2013, but KG’s not exactly a three-teams-in-13-months sorta guy.
Last? There’s that $12 million he’d have to leave on the table in walking away. Garnett’s never been about the money, he leaves it out there more than anyone, but $12 million is $12 million.
Garnett’s also a thoughtful guy, though, so it’s no surprise that he came clean about at least considering walking away from it all this summer. From Stefan Bondy at the New York Daily News:
"(The thought of retirement) is always somewhere in there, especially when you come up short for your goal for the year. But I must admit these last three years, I've thought about life and where basketball is as far as priority," Garnett said at Brooklyn's Media Day, which segues into the start of training camp Friday. "So yeah, in the back of your mind, you think about it.
"But the decision is either yes or no. It's not like 50-50 I'm in the middle of the road or gray area. I'm a person that when you commit to something, you commit to it. It's that simple."
Garnett is like that, but even with his esteemed status as a go-to workhorse and eventual first ballot Basketball Hall of Famer, there are not many gray areas for anyone deciding for or against returning to the game on the final year of your contract. You come back, you play and get paid. You leave, and the money goes back to the team.
KG gave no commitment to playing beyond this season, which he shouldn’t have to give before the calendar even flips to October, but reminds that he’ll hang them up when he’s “not feeling basketball again,” a feeling that to Garnett comes off as “absurd,” in his words.
Of course, it’s September. It’s OK not to want to feel basketball again once you pass the 50,000 career minutes threshold (not counting those nearly 5300 playoff minutes) sometime this spring. Nobody should raise an eyebrow if Kevin Garnett decides that enough is enough sometime in 2015, 20 years after he was drafted into this league.
It wasn’t a moan-fest, but Garnett did go on to (dis)credit Jason Kidd’s system and Garnett giving up minutes, shots and other stats for the “betterment” of last year’s second-round playoff team. Because new coach Lionel Hollins, in KG’s estimation, runs a system that is “a little parallel to the things we did up in Boston,” he figures to rebound in what could be his final year.
We’ll see. KG’s been through some stuff, and his wearying style of play wouldn’t seem to work well deep into his late 30s, despite his smarts, interest, and motivation. The Nets would appear to be improved this season with healthier turns from Deron Williams and Brook Lopez, but a big lineup featuring Lopez and Garnett up front failed Brooklyn last season, and Hollins is already on record as pointing to both big men as starters.
That’s the right move, for now at least, in shepherding your best individual players into the starting lineup, while trying to determine weaknesses, strengths and adjustments on the fly. In his prime and even past it, no NBA player was better than Garnett at filling in all the cracks on the fly – more perimeter-driven and a better passer than Tim Duncan, more defensive-minded and impactful than Kobe Bryant, older and more knowledgeable than LeBron James – but those days are past him.
We knew that last year, and the year before, too. What is also confirmed, thankfully, is what we’ve long suspected: Kevin Garnett will return to play NBA basketball this season, and this league and its fans are better for it. We’ll figure out 2015-16 sometime later – welcome back KG.
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