Minnesota Timberwolves bringing back Kevin Garnett-era jerseys

In honor of their 30th season as an NBA franchise, the Minnesota Timberwolves are bringing back the jerseys from their most successful era.

Through 29 seasons to this point, the Minnesota Timberwolves have not had a ton of success. But they did have a run of eight straight years with a playoff appearances (seven first-round exits), which finally culminated in a trip to Western Conference Finals in 2004. That was of course the last time they made the playoffs before last year. So those seven early postseason exits qualify as great success, based on what quickly followed for over a decade of mismanagement on all levels.

The 2018-19 campaign will be the Timberwolves’ 30th as an NBA franchise, so it’s time to foster and sell a bit of nostalgia to fans. To that end, they are bringing back the jerseys worn during by far their most successful era.

The Timberwolves wore the “Classic Edition”  jerseys from 1996-2008, spanning that entire run of eight straight playoff appearances and most of Kevin Garnett’s Hall of Fame career with the team. They will wear them five times during the 2018-19 season, starting Oct. 31 against the Utah Jazz, with two more throwback jerseys apparently to be announced before the season starts.

The team released a hype video as part of the unveiling of the “green tree” jerseys.

After finally ending that lengthy playoff drought last year, expectations remain very high for the Timberwolves heading into the coming season. Karl-Anthony Towns , Jimmy Butler and Andrew Wiggins will be leading the way for Tom Thibodeau, in a now even more competitive Western Conference where the gap between the No. 3 and No. 8 seeds in the playoffs was narrow last season.

The Timberwolves’ “green tree” jersey is sure to bring back memories for fans, both good (Garnett and that Western Conference Finals run) and bad (seven early playoff exits, the dismal couple years before Garnett was traded).