Timberwolves Fans Rush Target Center to See Garnett

Jan 21, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Garnett (2) directs the defense during the first quarter of the game against the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

If there was ever any question about the love Minnesota Timberwolves fans have for Kevin Garnett to this day, check this out:

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That was the scene when the gates opened this morning to sell tickets for Garnett’s first game in a Wolves uniform since 2007. People seem to enjoy dogging the Wolves fan base but it is simply not fair criticism. The Wolves have been a perpetual motion machine of losing for every season that Garnett was not here and some of the ones where he was here. Consistent losing takes a toll. It makes it even worse when much of it feels self-inflicted.

The Joe Smith debacle concocted by Kevin McHale and Glen Taylor was the first major blunder. Ndudi Ebi, trading Sam Cassell for Marko Jaric, Jonny Flynn, Wes Johnson and many others would soon follow. Losing is one thing but not believing the people who are running the team can fix it makes it much worse. The good news is the Wolves drafts have been much better under Flip Saunders and the trade for Andrew Wiggins looks great, Anthony Bennett notwithstanding. Time will tell how his midseason trades this year and future draft picks will pan out.

Of course, the Wolves franchise has also been one fraught with bad luck. To have as many terrible years as the Wolves have and never win the lottery is astounding. They also had a tough break in what was far and away the franchise’s greatest season: I will always be convinced that the Wolves would have won the NBA Finals in 2004 had Cassell stayed healthy instead of getting banged up in the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers.

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Despite all of the ugliness, there are still fans sticking through it all. The thread that ties together almost every positive Timberwolves moment is Kevin Garnett. The first time the team made the playoffs, then made them for seven more consecutive times. A league Most Valuable Player award. A run to the Western Conference Finals. It all comes back to Garnett.

Now, he’s back. No one knows yet for how long or what will happen but he’s back. This team is pulling the pieces together to finally try to break through in the next couple of years, and now the greatest player in the team’s history is back in the fold.

I’m excited and I’m clearly not the only one.