Troy Young

When his agent informed him in July that he was going to be a Minnesota Timberwolf, Michael Olowokandi could only think of Kevin. When thinking of the Timberwolves, most do.

After all, "KG" is the franchise, the "Big Ticket," the heart and soul of the Timberwolves organization. He is a six-time All-Star, an All-NBA First Team honoree twice, All-Defensive First Team four times. So naturally, Kevin quickly comes to mind for any free agent when signing with the Timberwolves.

But upon further review, as he contemplated the possibilities of playing in Minnesota, Olowokandi wasn't talking about Kevin Garnett, "The Franchise." Instead, Olowokandi's thoughts kept returning to Kevin McHale, the general manager of the franchise.

Certainly Olowokandi couldn't help but drool when he dreamt of playing alongside Garnett, one of the game's greatest forwards. Yet he drooled just as much when he pondered the practice sessions he could have with McHale, one of the game's all-time greatest inside players who possessed some of the best footwork in the game.

"When I heard the news about coming to join the Timberwolves, I immediately thought of Kevin McHale and the glory days he had back in Boston," Olowokandi said during a news conference announcing his signing in July. "His moves, his up-and-unders... It's an exciting opportunity."

Unlike most NBA teams, whose general managers show up in suits and ties, the Timberwolves are different. Their GM would rather be playing basketball on the hardcourt with his players in practice than playing hardball from a conference room with a player's agent. McHale expects big things from Olowokandi. After last season, the Timberwolves knew what they lacked inside. "That's one of the things I said to Flip (Saunders) at the end of last season," McHale said. "We had to get better defensively. We had to protect the paint more."

In McHale, Olowokandi — the No. 1 pick in the 1998 NBA draft — saw the potential for a teacher-student relationship. "I was with my former team for five years and I did develop," said Olowokandi, a former Los Angeles Clipper. "But I think there are so many more tools to learn here. We have a GM who is one of the best low-post players ever. I don't think I could have picked a better situation."

Olowokandi attributes some of his early-season success to McHale, his GM and instructor. "It's huge. He teaches from experience and those are the things that work. It's great that our general manager is on the court in shorts every day and is in getting treatment. Not many GMs do that."

Olowokandi, who had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in February, spent a couple of days during the summer working out with McHale. But in September, Olowokandi was still feeling pain and swelling in that knee, so he had a second procedure done before the regular season started. He missed practically all of training camp. He spent one-on-one sessions working with McHale, but was afforded just three practices with the team before the regular season opened on Oct. 29.

History has shown that Olowokandi, at 7-0, 270 pounds, hasn't been prone to injuries. In his first four seasons with the Clippers, he missed just nine games. But his knee flared up one year ago and he still isn't 100 percent. But he's getting closer. "It definitely wore on my patience, but patience is a virtue," he said. "I do have to be patient. I think it makes it a little bit easier to accept because I feel pretty confident in my ability as a basketball player."

Save all the Clippers jokes. Olowokandi, 28, doesn't want to hear them. He takes pride in the contributions he and his teammates made during his five seasons in L.A. In 323 games as a Clipper, Olowokandi averaged 9.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots in 30.4 minutes per game. Clearly, Olowokandi hadn't reached the potential expected from a No. 1 pick, but most big men don't for several years.

"In my first year with the Clippers, we were winning and feeling very confident," he said. "We played defense pretty well and our offense was sharing the ball really well. In my last year with the Clippers, that was different. The team was in somewhat of a disarray in terms of who was staying, who was not staying. It was a very fragile situation. Going into last season, I figured we could win any game we went into. I had that mind-frame and I think that's important. You have to have that mentality. I've never gone into a game where I had a mentality that we were going to lose. I've never had that, so I think that's a good thing that I bring with me."

His environment has changed. There is no ocean nearby, just 10,000 lakes. There are no beaches to hit during the season, just boat landings and ice fishing houses. The geographical change from sunny California to snowy Minnesota is almost as dramatic as the personnel change on the court.

Olowokandi is almost always flanked in the paint by Garnett. Latrell Sprewell is nearby. Sam Cassell is running the dynamic offense. Everywhere he looks, Olowokandi sees all-star potential. "There is a lot better personnel here," he said. "The main guys who were brought here this year — myself, Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell — you look around at the teammates we have and the caliber of players we have and there is some pressure to win, but that makes the pressure fun.

"It's good to be with a team that's won 50 games the past three or four seasons. That's obviously very successful. Now we have to get over that hump and get out of the first round of the playoffs. That's where I think of myself as valuable to this team."

Olowokandi doesn't feel the pressure of comparisons to the Wolves' previous center, Rasho Nesterovic. "Rasho's a good basketball player; it doesn't bother me that people will compare," he said. "I hope the best for Rasho, but all I'm concerned about is this team. The only time I'll be paying attention to him is when we play the Spurs."

He doesn't feel the pressure of being a No. 1 pick, either. "I don't think there's pressure," Olowokandi said. "I understand that this is Kevin Garnett's team. I can contribute to this team in a winning way. For me, it's about being patient and staying healthy."

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Michael Olowokandi: Ready To Thrive

In a league where players often speak before they think, Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett bit his lip.

While fans and media howled, and some Timberwolves management hinted they needed to be the beneficiary of even more from the team's lone superstar, Garnett stood tall but silent, and accepted the newfound role of being the dartboard of criticism.

Garnett could have lashed out through the newspapers. In other cities, NBA superstars might have called a press conference and begun firing verbal missiles in all directions at teammates, team management, reporters and even fans. In other cities, if a player gets criticized too "harshly" he exercises a bunker-down mentality that makes him Public Enemy No. 1.

From a public relations standpoint, Garnett had myriad options.

But in the offseason, Garnett worked on what he could control — himself — and through his silence showed an allegiance and never-ending faithfulness rarely seen in all of professional sports.

"At the end of the year, when they start pointing fingers, it's always going to be pointed at me first. I don't have a problem with that," Garnett said. "I've heard all those things before. At the end of the year, things go bad and they say, 'Kevin Garnett ain't doing blah, blah, blah.' It's very unfair. But like I've said, you control the things you can and not the stuff you can't."

Garnett couldn't control what was being said about himself and the Timberwolves, but he could have responded. Garnett is the top reason the Wolves are in the postseason every year. Ironically, when they were eliminated in the first round, he became the most convenient excuse for why they didn't move on.

But last spring the criticism took on a deeper tone. Last spring, when Garnett and the Wolves were ousted from the first round of the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season, people began to wonder aloud whether the Wolves were better off with or without Garnett.

The economic factor kicked in. The business side of sports always weighs heavily on most personnel decisions. Garnett could not do it alone, analysts said. But with his enormous salary, the team could ill afford to sign another superstar. Bottom line: Could the Wolves go deep into the playoffs with or without Garnett?

It was more a question of business and economics than an indictment on Garnett's ability. Still, for the first time since he came to Minnesota from Farragut Academy, people wondered if Garnett was a sail or an anchor.

"It did bother me," Garnett admitted. "Some of the criticism was in-house and some of it was coming from management, and I thought that was tough. When things aren't going great, you have to stick together, so I took it very personal."

While other superstar athletes have crumbled in their communities, Garnett has not. While some professional athletes see their name frequent police reports almost as often as the morning newspaper's box scores, Garnett stays clean. He does that because he feels a responsibility not only to the Timberwolves organization and its fans, but the entire community.

It's a rare attitude for an athlete, especially one who had no ties to the community before he came here to play basketball.

"I feel like this city is mine and I wear Minneapolis on my sleeve," Garnett said. "I don't mind being the poster boy for the Twin Cities — I like that — but I don't like when you take shots that are inappropriate. I think you should always evaluate yourself in the mirror first."

That's what made the criticism last spring sting.

Admittedly, Garnett could improve on aspects of his game. In some ways, he has this season. Just watch his post-up moves underneath. Some of the new weapons Garnett added to his offensive arsenal are triggered by footwork reminiscent of a certain Boston Celtics forward who grew up in Hibbing, Minn. But what may have annoyed Garnett most was that some even dared to question his desire.

"I took it very, very, very personal because I work very hard," Garnett said.

In the offseason, Garnett focused on improving his game, and it shows. On Sunday, Garnett will play in his sixth career All-Star Game, his fifth as a starter as voted by fans. He is averaging career-high rebounds and assists and has led the team in scoring 36 times, rebounding 38 times and assists 18 times. To go along with his NBA-leading 39 double-doubles, Garnett has three triple-doubles and several near-misses this season. He tied his own team record with 24 rebounds and set a franchise mark with 19 defensive boards Nov. 7 vs. Milwaukee. On Opening Night, Garnett scored his 10,000th career point; he followed that with his 11,000th point last Thursday at Dallas.

The Timberwolves should consider themselves fortunate. In Garnett, they not only possess one of the game's elite, but a player who is devoted to the cause. For better or for worse, Garnett insists, he will be a Timberwolf.

"My mom's a big, big, big loyalty person and she stressed loyalty to people who've been loyal to you," Garnett said. "I've got loyal friends. I've been burned a couple times, but you learn from that. I think my support group I have around me is very solid and great. It's not something you take for granted. You surround yourself with loyal people and it spreads."

At the All-Star break, the NBA's unofficial halfway point, the Wolves hold the fifth spot in the Western Conference. Kendall Gill, Troy Hudson and Rod Strickland have been pleasant surprises, and without them, the ship might have sunk. But Garnett is quietly having perhaps the best season of his career.

"I wouldn't trade him for anybody in this league," NBA analyst Trent Tucker said on a Wolves postgame radio show. "He's the most versatile player in the league. He plays every single night with 100 percent energy. Kevin Garnett will give you an honest effort every night. And you also have a guy who, on the defensive end, can do so many things.

"He's a 10-position player. On offense, he can play all five, and he can defend all five positions. In my mind, I wouldn't trade Kevin Garnett for anybody in the league, not even Shaq."

"I control what I can," Garnett said. "I come out and focus on me and the guys. I love everybody in this (locker) room.

"Do I need to be more aggressive? Yeah, I think so. But I think I'm doing okay."

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KG Does It All

Fate dealt Kendall Gill and the Minnesota Timberwolves a practically identical hand. As evidenced by hindsight, it was intertwined.

That's the way the ball bounces. The lottery ball, that is.

Timberwolves historians know all too well the frustrations the NBA lottery brought to Minnesota. On virtually an annual basis throughout the early 1990s, a select few marquee draft picks were available. But the Wolves — despite their horrid records — would always draw the lottery pick that guaranteed them the slot just after those prime-time players were selected.

The lottery ball winners dined on fine china and would choose from filet mignon, T-bone steak, New York sirloin or prime rib. The Wolves, it seemed, were always left nibbling on meatloaf with a plastic fork.

The 1990 draft, the Wolves' second ever, was true to form. Gill, an Illinois swingman who left a favorable impression on the Big Ten Conference thanks to a solid college career, was familiar with Minnesota and hoped to play for one of the NBA's newest franchises. The Wolves had drafted UCLA's Pooh Richardson in the first round the year before, and Gill thought he would be a perfect fit with Richardson in Minnesota.

But the Charlotte Hornets drafted Gill with their first pick (fifth overall) in that draft. The Wolves drafted Felton Spencer from Louisville with the sixth overall pick. The selection of Spencer sparked five straight years of Wolves lottery picks who went from brilliancy to busts: Spencer in '90, Luc Longley in '91, Christian Laettner in '92, Isaiah Rider in '93 and Donyell Marshall in '94. All five were chosen by Minnesota with the seventh overall pick or better. All five did not live up to their billing — at least not for the Wolves.

Who knows what might have been if Charlotte would have taken Spencer and the Wolves would have taken Gill?

"This is where I originally wanted to come before I got drafted," Gill said. "I wanted to come to Minnesota. I had visited it and I liked it. (Bill) Musselman was the coach there. I really liked the Twin Cities and it was close to my home in Chicago. And I really wanted to play with Pooh Richardson.

"Unfortunately, that didn't happen. But, hey, better late than never."

Even though this is his 13th season in the NBA, this is his first as a Timberwolf. Yes, at 34 years old with 12 years of NBA experience, he is joining the Timberwolves late. And yes, it is better late than never.

When the Wolves announced the signing of Gill on Sept. 25, it was perceived by many as nothing more than a minor tweak to a roster that was taking shape. Even though the Wolves had definite holes to fill — with Terrell Brandon's status unknown, and Chauncey Billups signing with Detroit — the acquisition of Gill was treated with little fanfare.

Yet more than two months into the season, Gill has proven to be a steady veteran the Wolves have needed, considering the unexpected absence of Wally Szczerbiak. Through the first quarter of the season, Gill has averaged 31 minutes per game. Only Kevin Garnett and Troy Hudson average more.

"I totally expected to play this much," Gill said. "I trained hard to get my body into condition to play this much."

It seems funny that a 34-year-old is sometimes considered one step from a nursing home, but the NBA is becoming a much younger league. On the opposite end of that spectrum are players like Gill, who know that experience should be considered an asset, not a liability.

"A lot of people think that because I'm 34 years old, I'm not capable of contributing," Gill said. "I don't believe that at all. I think when you get older, you get better sometimes."

After averaging double-digit point totals in each of his first 10 NBA seasons, Gill slipped in 2000-01 and averaged 9.1 points with New Jersey. Last season, he averaged just 5.7 with Miami. Naturally, the label was stamped across Gill's forehead. The sun was setting on his career, many said.

It hasn't been a dramatic turnaround, but still, the sun is shining on Gill. He is averaging more minutes, points and rebounds than he has in either of the past two seasons. So far with the Wolves, he is averaging almost 11 points and four rebounds. Gill has started more than two-thirds of the team's games. Even though his production doesn't match Szczerbiak, who was an All-Star last year, Gill's output has exceeded expectations.

"I came here with full intentions of contributing," Gill said. "I didn't know whether I was going to start or come off the bench, but wherever I ended up, I knew I was going to help."

To Gill, money wasn't the sole issue in searching for a new NBA team. Opportunity to play and the chance to win was high on the priority list, too.

"Flip (Saunders) said they needed a '2' guard that could play defense and score a little bit, and that's right up my alley," Gill said. "I knew we could win here."

With Brandon out indefinitely, that left Anthony Peeler as the only returning veteran on the Wolves roster that had more than seven years of experience. But with the signing of veterans Gill and then Rod Strickland, the Wolves got much older — and possibly wiser.

Sam Mitchell, the renowned veteran of the team, is now an assistant coach in Milwaukee. Quietly, Gill has assumed much of Mitchell's role not only off the court but on as well.

"With the exception of my rookie year, I've been a leader on every team I've been on," Gill said. "So it's kind of natural for me. I'm one of the older veterans on the team, and I've taken some leadership roles.

"We're starting to feel like a team," he continued, playing the role of a proud dad. "The guys are starting to feel comfortable together. We just have to keep sticking with it and wait for (Szczerbiak and Brandon) to get back, and when they do, we're really going to go."

On the court or off, there is little change from Gill. Casual observances reveal that he maintains a subdued demeanor around the Timberwolves that every team needs.

Gill, an avid reader of books, enjoys philosophy. That serves as yet another tool to help him improve in basketball and in life.

"I apply (philosophy) more into my life than to games," he said. "I try to go into games not thinking about anything. I try to go in not having my head cloudy. When you try to get into a zone, you can't be thinking about anything. It has to be automatic — you have to trust yourself 100 percent. Those are the things I take away from the philosophy that I read.

"I've always loved learning. I've always loved bettering myself in every way."

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Kendall Gill: Finally a Timberwolf

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