Cavaliers tried to get Kevin Garnett to unretire, but KG said no

Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue made some news Tuesday when he said coaching Cleveland and megastar LeBron James was the hardest job in the NBA. That was enough of a “talker” to get the full treatment on ESPN’s variety of debate shows in the afternoon, but the more interesting nugget for Minnesota fans was buried a little deeper in Lue’s interview.
Apparently Lue and Cleveland reached out to Kevin Garnett, who was dumped by the Wolves before the season started, to see if he would join Cleveland mid-year after Andrew Bogut was injured. And apparently KG said no thanks.
“I was like, ‘Man, you should come back and play for me.’ He was like, ‘Man, you all have a lot going on over there,’” Lue said. “That was before we hit our stride like we’re playing well now. He was like, ‘If you and [James] Posey were still playing, I would come.’ But he said, ‘But y’all are coaching and y’all are going through what you’re going through.’ He said, ‘Ah, I’m going to sit this one out.’ I said, ‘OK. We’ll call you next year.’“
Bogut broke his leg in early March, meaning it would have been a three-month commitment for Garnett — who has smoothly transitioned to TV work — if the Cavs make it all the way to the NBA Finals. Lue, Posey and Garnett are all 40 years old. Posey, now a Cavaliers assistant coach, was Garnett’s teammate in 2007-08 in Boston when the Celtics won a ring.
It’s hard to say what Garnett would have had left in the tank, but it’s also hard to imagine a better situation for him than coming into a role with limited minutes to be a defensive specialist. It’s frankly more surprising that he said no than that the Cavs asked him in the first place.
Then again, maybe it’s for the best. If it would have been Cavs/Warriors in the finals, Garnett might have ended up looking like Rudy Gobert.

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