Basketball

NBA 75: At No. 17, Kevin Garnett put the Timberwolves on the NBA map and restored the Celtics to glory


Welcome to the NBA 75, The Athletic’s countdown of the 75 best players in NBA history, in honor of the league’s diamond anniversary. We’ll unveil a new player on the list every weekday through Feb. 18, culminating with the man picked by a panel of The Athletic NBA staff members as the greatest of all time.

It was one of those perfect summer evenings during a family trip from Minnesota to the northeast in 1995, 65 degrees and sunny as 16-year-old me walked into Fenway Park for the very first time. The Red Sox were hosting the Toronto Blue Jays, and we settled into our seats near the top of a section above the third-base dugout, a momentous occasion for a sports-crazy kid who begged his parents to sprinkle some games into the history and sightseeing.

As I sat down and marveled at the Green Monster in front of me, I still couldn’t help but pull out a Sony Walkman, put the headphones over my ears and start listening as intently as I was watching. It wasn’t the radio broadcast of the game, but coverage of the 1995 NBA draft. My hometown Timberwolves had the fifth pick and there were so many intriguing possibilities in a class filled with household names. Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace from North Carolina. Damon Stoudamire from Arizona. Michigan State’s Shawn Respert and UCLA’s Ed O’Bannon, all players I watched on television at storied college programs who became well-known stars with tantalizing potential.





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