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From the very first moments that Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez joined the Minnesota Timberwolves organization, they were deluged with pleas from a forlorn fan base. Their mentions on social media were flooded with them. Anytime they would run into a Timberwolves fan in public, they would hear the demands. The surveys they distributed to fans to understand what was most important to them were dominated by one subject. Bring KG home. Please.
Garnett felt so betrayed by the ordeal that he refused to even show his face at Target Center despite several overtures from the team hoping to host him for big moments in the playoffs. He also rebuffed multiple efforts to hang his No. 21 in the rafters, an embarrassment for the fans that cut deeper than any of the team’s many 60-loss seasons, the 14-year playoff drought or passing on Steph Curry (twice) in the 2009 NBA Draft. “It was crystal clear that was one of the most impactful things we could do as owners is retire KG’s jersey and bring him back to Minnesota,” Lore told The Athletic. “And mend the relationship because he meant so much to the fans, all the community.”
The unique structure of the agreement for Lore and Rodriguez to begin as limited partners and assume majority control over the course of several years took some of the pressure off the situation. They were in no position to make any sweeping changes or promises right away, and Garnett wasn’t in a hurry to engage while Taylor was still calling the shots. Rather than trying to rush the process, Lore and Rodriguez set about trying to earn Garnett’s trust over the long haul. “In many ways, he’s our Babe Ruth for the Yankees, right?” Rodriguez said. “So it was important to start kind of going down a path of mending a relationship.”
“We felt it from day one,” said Kelly Laferriere, a senior adviser to Lore and Rodriguez and the chief business officer of A-Rod Corp. “It was like this huge hole in the heart of the organization.” Rodriguez understands all too well the strains that can come between a superstar and a franchise. But even he was taken aback by the outcry. He would post pictures of a family vacation on his Instagram and see his comment section taken over by Wolves fans. It’s great that you’re in the south of France. When is KG coming back? “Everywhere we went around, not only Minnesota, but all around the country, all Minnesota Timberwolves fans wanted to know was, when is Kevin coming back into the organization?” Rodriguez said.
Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett has agreed to reunite with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Minnesota Lynx in a new, all-encompassing role involving business, community and fan-engagement efforts and content development, sources told ESPN on Thursday. Garnett and the Timberwolves will also hold his much-awaited No. 21 jersey retirement ceremony in Minnesota over the next two seasons, sources said. Garnett had been distant from the Timberwolves' organization since his playing career ended in 2016 due to a fallout with ex-owner Glen Taylor, refusing to have his jersey retired, but built a rapport with new governors Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez and the sides found common ground on a reunion.
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Right now, it’s all just a vision that’s years and millions of dollars away from becoming reality. But the prospect of a new professional basketball facility in the Twin Cities has developers and fans alike excited. Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez became majority owners of the NBA/WNBA franchises in June, doubling down on their long-stated desires for an arena anchoring an entertainment district that could funnel revenue back into the teams. As public- and private-sector leaders in Minneapolis look to reimagine downtown to meet the post-pandemic era, a new arena could present one of the most seismic opportunities to transform the urban core.
Pablo Torre: Glenn Taylor in the months during this push and pull had two executives create what amounts to a burn book, as in like a mean girl style list. A list that has been described to me as numbered and 77 items long. And this list of 77 things Glen Taylor/The Timberwolves hate about Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez was communicating to the NBA and then to anyone who would listen. “You can't approve these guys. Marc Lore had dinner with Kevin Garnett and never told me, Alex Rodriguez did steroids…
As Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore spent time in Minnesota in the years prior to taking ownership over of the Timberwolves this summer, one of the things the two heard often and loudly was to bring back "the trees." The new majority owners of the Wolves and WNBA's Lynx will do just that this season. The Timberwolves will bring back their iconic Black Trees Classic Edition, an alternate uniform worn from 1998 to 2008 (and donned often by Kevin Garnett) for 28 games this season: 21 at home and 7 on the road. They will debut against the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 26.
"One of the things we've been obsessing over is fan experience in the arena and giving them the best in class," Rodriguez, co-chairperson of the Wolves and Lynx, told ESPN. "We polled the fans and very high on their poll was they wanted these jerseys that mean a great deal to them -- the 'Black Trees.' "And also we'll be having some more surprises in-arena and uniform stuff. But hearing the fans loud and clear is very important to us and we're trying to deliver exactly what they want."
The last time the franchise wore the black alternate jersey was during the 2018-19 season. "We've got some uniforms in our closet that fans love," said Mike Grahl, Timberwolves and Lynx chief marketing officer. "And I would say this particular one that we're bringing back is at the front of the fans' closets ... The fans continue to ask for this jersey. Anytime we do a uniform drop of any sort, there's one common word that gets echoed by all of our fans, and that word is 'trees.' "There's no other uniform in the NBA that's designed in that way. The character that it has and the uniqueness that it has, I think fans have significant energy for and they hold onto that in lore."
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Jon Krawczynski: Lore and Rodriguez are not making any changes to the basketball side of the Wolves/Lynx. Told that the changes on the business side are being made as part of a larger plan to add new faces/voices that will help shape the franchise’s path in the new era.
Mike Vorkunov: The Timberwolves paid $90.4 million in luxury taxes this season, and new owners Marc Lore and A-Rod say that's not a problem. “We think about it like we do a startup," Lore said, "where startups lose money, but they’re investing because it’s creating enterprise value over the long term.”