The Minnesota Timberwolves have put a date on one of the most anticipated honors in franchise history.
Minnesota announced Friday that Kevin Garnett’s No. 21 jersey will be retired on Feb. 28, 2027, following the Timberwolves’ home game against the Boston Celtics at Target Center.
The opponent gives the night another layer of significance. Garnett spent the defining first chapter of his career in Minnesota before winning an NBA championship with Boston in 2008. The Celtics retired his No. 5 jersey in 2022.
Now the number most closely associated with Garnett’s Timberwolves career will finally join the Target Center rafters.
“Minnesota is home. That’s never changed,” Garnett said in the Timberwolves’ Aug. 14 announcement. “This is where it all started for me, so seeing No. 21 go up in Target Center and sharing that moment with the fans, my family, teammates, coaches, and everyone who’s been part of this journey means everything.”
Kevin Garnett Ceremony Caps a Long-Awaited Timberwolves Reunion
The retirement itself was already expected. Minnesota announced in April that Garnett’s No. 21 would be retired during the 2026-27 season, but the date and ceremony details had not yet been formally set.
Friday’s announcement makes Feb. 28 the centerpiece of a much larger reunion between Garnett and the organization.
The Timberwolves brought Garnett back into the franchise as a team ambassador in December 2025, formally repairing a relationship that had been strained for years after his playing career ended.
That context makes the retirement more meaningful than the usual ceremonial honor.
Garnett is the defining player in Timberwolves history. Minnesota selected him fifth overall in the 1995 NBA Draft, and he eventually became the franchise leader in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, among numerous other categories cited by the team.
His peak came in 2003-04, when Garnett won the NBA MVP award and led Minnesota to what was then the greatest season in franchise history, including its first Western Conference Finals appearance.
He was a 15-time All-Star over his full NBA career and earned nine All-NBA and 12 All-Defensive selections.
No. 21 will become only the second Timberwolves player number to be retired. No. 2 was retired in honor of Garnett’s former teammate Malik Sealy following Sealy’s death in 2000.
Celtics Give Timberwolves a Fitting Opponent for Garnett Night
There was perhaps no more appropriate team for Minnesota to face on Garnett’s night than Boston.
The Timberwolves traded Garnett to the Celtics in 2007 after 12 seasons in Minnesota. He immediately helped Boston win the 2008 NBA championship alongside Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, cementing a second franchise legacy that ultimately resulted in the Celtics raising his No. 5 to the TD Garden rafters in March 2022.
Garnett later returned to Minnesota as a player in 2015 and finished his career with the Timberwolves in 2016.
For years afterward, however, Boston had given Garnett its highest individual franchise honor while Minnesota had not. The Timberwolves’ 2026-27 plans will finally close that gap.
The organization is making Garnett’s retirement more than a one-night event.
Minnesota announced four additional “KG Theme Nights” built around important moments from his career: Draft Night against the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 16, All-Star MVP Night against the Charlotte Hornets on Jan. 29, NBA MVP Night against the Washington Wizards on March 14 and Western Conference Finals Night against the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 28.
Those events will surround the Feb. 28 ceremony, when Garnett’s No. 21 permanently goes into the rafters.
And Garnett made clear he views the ceremony as part of something larger.
“I don’t see this as the end — I see it as a new beginning,” Garnett said.
After years of separation between the Timberwolves and the greatest player in franchise history, that may be the biggest development of all.
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