NBA All-Time Rank No. 19: Kevin Garnett

Ranking the top 50 players in NBA history…

19. Kevin Garnett

“The Big Ticket” won his championship ring with the Boston Celtics, but Garnett initially built his legacy as the highly-talented superstar of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Drafted No. 5 overall out of high school in 1995 by Minnesota, Garnett became the first player in 20 years to make this leap. He didn’t disappoint, winning an NBA MVP with the Wolves less than a decade later.

Garnett averaged 17.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game over 1,462 games, but his scoring numbers are watered down a bit by his later years.

He was a 15-time All-Star, and was named to the All-NBA Team nine times and the NBA All-Defensive Team 12 times.

Garnett’s highest individual accolades include the 2004 NBA MVP Award and the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year Award, making him one of five players to win both.

Garnett led the Timberwolves to eight consecutive playoff appearances, reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2004, and won the aforementioned NBA Championship with the Celtics in 2008.

Traded to Boston in 2007, he helped form “The Big Three” with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Later, he played for the Nets from 2013 to 2015 before returning to Minnesota, retiring in 2016. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 and named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.

Although Garnett lands behind Tim Duncan in the all-time rankings as the second-highest ranked power forward, he has a claim to being the most naturally gifted big man the league has ever seen when it comes to combining a dynamic offensive skill set with supreme athleticism.

Perhaps best of all, Garnett will always be a Celtics legend.

But who ranks ahead of Garnett at No. 18 all-time?