I’ve only been to one Minnesota Timberwolves game at Target Center in my life, but I’ve seen many more at Barclays Center in New York. I can also tell you that, unlike some of my more wealthy co-fans, I have been staying in the upper, higher floors of the Brooklyn arena, where the tickets are cheap but the food… well, it still isn’t. But there is something amazing up there. Something I see on a regular basis that requires individuals in the lower bowl to crane their heads.
The rafters are loaded with legends that helped shape the team I’m seeing. Years of service boiled down to a single hanging cloth decoration. The lower bowl has a better view of the game, but what about me? I can see everything this squad was. I get to see who brought them there. I get to recognize more than just one game or iteration of the roster. I see everything.
This is why the accolade is so rare and significant. It’s why the Boston Celtics, with nearly a century of history, have the most retired jerseys, while the Los Angeles Lakers have the second most. It’s why the Memphis Grizzlies’ announcement of the particular privilege they’ll be providing to Marc Gasol is so significant for Memphis, which saw the outcasts of Vancouver arrive on their doorstep in 2001 and raised them in a way their Canadian counterpart could not.
Retiring a jersey is important. Not to the numbers or history, because the stats and stories are still there, but to the people involved, the fans, the owners, and, most importantly, the players.
In 2016, a controversial sports legend announced his retirement. Kevin Garnett’s jersey was scheduled to be retired by the organization with which he had spent nearly 13 years. However, many years have gone. So here we are. The jersey is still not up on the south end of Target Center. The drama revolves around a horrible relationship between a former star and the franchise owner.
“It did not make me happy.”
“Of course it bothers me.”
“It’s not my decision.”
The statements of a top player of all time at his position rarely sound like this. They should be full of thank yous and remarks emphasizing how successful their careers were. They should be packed with lighthearted barbs, vestiges of long-forgotten drama, rather than festering scars that have yet to heal.
In cases like this, the Wolves have been mocked and referred to be second-rate. However, those were not the comments of a former Wolf. They were obviously not directed at a franchise that the sports world regards as subpar. They were, in reality, intended at a team with 22 retired jerseys, an all-time winning percentage of 57%, and six titles regarded as the pinnacle of sports.
Those comments, those sad, half-spoken statements were Alex Rodriguez’s response to the Yankees confirming their decision not to retire A-Rod’s #13 jersey when they handed it to Joey Gallo in 2021.
Rodriguez, the player, deserves not just to retire his jersey, but also to be elected to the Hall of Fame. A-Rod was drafted by the Seattle Mariners, traded to the Texas Rangers, and eventually ended up in the New York Yankees uniform. He is objectively a top-10 shortstop (and third baseman) of all time. Rodriguez began his career as probably the greatest rookie shortstop of all time, shattering record after record in 1994, sometimes overshadowing my childhood hero and people’s GOAT Ken Griffey Jr. At the age of 18, he started at shortstop for a championship-caliber squad.
We’ve all (hopefully) seen the Jon Bois documentary and learned about A-Rod’s early career. We understand who he was in Seattle, who A-Rod was as a Mariner, and how he departed. What some of you may not realize or comprehend is how good a player he was.
With three MVPs, he is tied for the second most in history. Ranked second all-time in runs scored. Seventh in total bases. Fifth in home runs. Fourth in RBIs. Two Golden Gloves. 14 All-Star appearances.
What’s even more amazing is that he accomplished all of this while changing positions in the middle of his career and missing two years.
And there you have it: the solution to Alex Rodriguez’s “why” question. Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games in 2013 due to his use of performance-enhancing drugs. After destroying the legacy of baseball’s best player, Barry Bonds, A-Rod was clearly unable to withstand the same stream of defamation.
This is not to belittle Rodriguez. He made a decision that he now must face. But those words, the sheer sorrow of them, carry the weight of his legacy.
The stories are still present. The numbers are also important. But the fans, owners, and individuals have turned against him. The accolade will not arrive. A-Rod’s jersey will not be retired. Not in New York. Not in Seattle. Not in Fort Worth.
I cannot fathom how heartbreaking that is.
Rodriguez is widely regarded as a jokester. His appearances on Twitter and MSNBC, his small kazoo-like giggles, and his overall demeanor reveal a man who is both real and cheesy, yet is sincerely pursuing his own happiness. He cannot modify the story of Alex Rodriguez, a baseball player. Amazingly, I don’t believe he wants to anymore.
So that’s how we got here.
Alex Rodriguez, the baseball player, is now one of the Timberwolves and Lynx’s new majority owners.
The Timberwolves are in a standoff with a franchise great who spent nearly 13 years with them seeking titles, owing to a disagreement with ownership.
“I’m not entertaining it.”
“I don’t want any dealings…”
“It’s not genuine.”
Those words are sharper than Rodriguez’s ever were. While A-Rod had come to accept that what he knew was coming, Garnett’s eyes were filled with shock from shattered expectations.
KG’s beef with exiting majority owner Glen Taylor stems from the alleged maltreatment of Garnett following the death of another club star and KG confidant, Flip Saunders. The story is lengthy and packed with both presumed and actual disrespect, but it all boils down to the same issue of respect between two people.
Taylor wished to retire Garnett’s jersey, solidifying 21 in Timberwolves history. Garnett interpreted this as Taylor’s submission to his supporters and those who loved him, rather than respect for him as a person. It’s a trivial feud. Garnett refused to let Taylor retire his jersey because, in addition to the credit he wants for himself, he wants to ensure that none of it gets to Taylor.
It’s difficult to imagine two people more diametrically opposed than Kevin Garnett, who fought for everything he had despite coming from a poor South Carolina upbringing, and Glen Taylor, whose wealth came from acquisitions and mergers, beginning with a 2.5 million purchase in 1975, before KG was born.
It’s a relationship similar to that of Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees’ Steinbrenner family.
The MLB Hall of Fame voting were announced roughly two weeks ago. Alex Rodriguez received only 34.8% of the votes. Not only is that less than A-Rod’s required three quarters, but it is also lower than his total from previous year, which was 35.7%. Rodriguez will not be inducted into the Hall of Fame, even if he should, and his name will not appear on any Rings of Honor, despite the fact that he probably should.
However, despite KG’s recent induction into the NBA Hall of Fame, the two former players are now seen as two sides of the same coin. Alex Rodriguez will be unable to preserve his own baseball epic, which will conclude as horribly as any painful fall from grace can. The hope is that Rodriguez can do what Taylor never did to Garnett. He can fully see him, acknowledge him as an equal, and recognize the wrath that comes with not being understood.
This is not relevant to the on-court product. It is, however, critical for supporters who can’t bear seeing not just a legend of their favorite team, but the legend, the essential piece, the event that established them as more than simply an expansion squad, but a real team with roots and stories. It’s significant for Garnett, who can finally receive the late distinction he deserves after ushering in the greatest era of Wolves basketball despite being practically overlooked in terms of talent. It’s critical for the new owners, who want to avoid the same mistakes that led Wolves fans to loathe Glen Taylor.
It’s significant for Rodriguez, who can never rectify his own story but may now be able to create the ending he so desperately desired for himself. A-Rod will never be free of the scandals and steroids, but he can start over as an owner, empowered to make the decisions that he was formerly subject to. The world is terrible, but we have these lovely, wonderful moments that last for a split second before shattering back into reality.
We’re on the verge of one here.
It comes down to two sports legends, each controversial in their own manner. It comes down to one failed story, one set of molten wings, and another set of retired but unburnt wings. It’s time for the two to fly again, this time with each other, high above the court and alight on the rafters, where I can stare them in the eyes through the nosebleeds and smile.
