Sam Mitchell says his firing will force Kevin Garnett to retire

Kevin Garnett may choose to retire soon, but former Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Sam Mitchell has offered a ludicrous reason.

The future is bright for the Minnesota Timberwolves, with a young team led by back-to-back Rookies of the Year (Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins) and Tom Thibodeau bringing instant credibility with him as a playoff-proven coach.

Sam Mitchell was quickly fired after the regular season finale last season, and he was of course replaced by Thibodeau, who also has the title of president of basketball operations. The future of past franchise icon Kevin Garnett is up in the air, as he weighs the prospect of playing a 22nd season, and as of right now there’s not much clarity.

Garnett played just 38 games last season, none after Jan. 23, due to a lingering right knee injury. At this point, his role a veteran mentor is far more valuable than his on-floor contribution, particularly for a budding star like Towns, at least for those that want to buy into that sort of thing.

To hear Mitchell tell it during a Tuesday appearance on Sirius XM NBA Radio, his own dismissal will tilt Garnett toward retirement.

Here’s a sample of what Mitchell had to say:

"“Last time I talked to him, he hadn’t made up his mind yet,” Mitchell said Tuesday on Sirius XM NBA Radio. “The way last year ended, with the owner (Glen Taylor) at the very last minute … and people don’t understand this, we all felt pretty good about us – myself and (general manager) Milt Newton and the coaching staff – we felt pretty good about us coming back. We felt like we did a good enough job that we earned a year or two to try to see could we keep that thing rolling.”“I just think KG was just so hurt by the way things happened,” Mitchell said. “For people to send you messages as if you were gonna be back and your staff was gonna be back and we had everything going in the right direction, and to get a phone call two hours before your last game basically saying, ‘I changed my mind and I’m going in a different direction,’ it just kind of knocks it all for a loop.”"

Mitchell spent most of his NBA playing career with the Timberwolves, and he landed back with the teams as an assistant coach, so his quick dismissal as head coach has probably left him reeling. His role as a veteran mentor when Garnett first surfaced in Minnesota in 1995, and the ongoing relationship between the two, also surely colors Mitchell’s perspective on the weight his firing would carry for Garnett.

It’s cold to say, but Mitchell’s firing should not move the needle for Garnett at all as he thinks about his future. His body has simply let him down in recent years, and outside of any professional pride that remains Garnett does not need the NBA grind anymore at 40 years old. Those factors will ultimately drive his retirement decision, which I think will come soon, not Mitchell being fired.

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