Kevin Garnett Retirement Officially Announced, Leaving NBA After 21 Years

The Kevin Garnett retirement has been the elephant in the room for the Minnesota Timberwolves all summer. The situation has now been officially addressed. The legendary forward has decided to walk away from the NBA. Garnett had to reach a contract buyout agreement with the Timberwolves since he still had one year left on his deal, as reported by USA Today.

Though details have not been released as of yet, it should be interesting to see what the contract buyout agreement is between Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves. There was still $8 million remaining on the deal. Garnett has made a ton of money during his NBA career, so he probably did not demand a huge sum.

Kevin Garnett has not revealed what the next chapters of his life will bring. However, the one thing that almost seems a certainty is that he will more than likely be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame soon. Garnett should be joined by Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan in a legendary class.

The great Kevin Garnett calls it quits after 21 seasons. pic.twitter.com/egvscpMBOe

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) September 23, 2016

Fortunately for Kevin Garnett, the decision to retire from the NBA was his to make. The Minnesota Timberwolves had no qualms about the 6-foot-11, 240-pound power forward returning for another season. Management liked the leadership and stability that he provided to the locker room.

Being around someone like Kevin Garnett, who has accomplished much in the NBA, was quite the experience for younger players like Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony Towns. They were able to see what it takes to succeed on the professional level by observing Garnett on a daily basis.

Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau would have liked Kevin Garnett around during his first season as the head coach of the franchise. Garnett knows and understands his defensive philosophies from their time together with the Boston Celtics. Thibodeau was an assistant coach when the Celtics last won an NBA Championship.

There is still a chance that Kevin Garnett could be involved with the Minnesota Timberwolves after retirement. He has stated in the past that he wanted part ownership of the franchise once his playing days in the NBA were over. That was one of the reasons why Garnett agreed to return to the Timberwolves.

Of course, those plans were made before Flip Saunders passed away from cancer. Kevin Garnett wanted to partner up with Saunders to purchase a minority stake in the Minnesota Timberwolves before purchasing more of a stake down the road. With Saunders gone, Garnett might be hesitant to jump into that venture.

As expected, there are speculations floating around that Kevin Garnett could sign with another NBA team in hopes of winning a second championship before retirement. However, that seems very unlikely. The belief is that Garnett is walking away from professional basketball because his body can no longer take the beating.

The rumors should still persist, though, because NBA fans would love for nothing more than to see Kevin Garnett signing with the Golden State Warriors or Cleveland Cavaliers to make that rivalry even more fascinating than it already is.

Coaching rumors should surround Kevin Garnett for a little bit as well. The 40-year-old has developed a lot of relationships in the NBA, so it would not be out of the realms of possibility. However, Garnett has expressed very little interest over the years in becoming a coach.

Kevin Garnett once stated that when he was done playing in the NBA, he can be found at a local YMCA gym in Malibu. He still wants to play basketball. Garnett just no longer believes that he can do it on the highest level, so he’s walking away.

[Featured Image by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images]