Kevin Garnett Shares A Hilarious '17s' Practice Story With His Teammate Big Stan: "I Got Asthma"

Kevin Garnett was one of the best basketball players of his generation, but he might be an even better storyteller. This was evident when KG was talking about a practice story featuring former Wolves' teammate Stanley Roberts running a conditioning drill called '17', which instructed players to run sideline to sideline 17 times within a set time frame.   

"One year we had Stanley Roberts on our team. Big fella, he looked like Shaq, taught Shaq all the Stanley sh*t. But you know, Big Stan wasn't doing everything. He had to do the running. After three times bro, we ran 17s like three times. Coach like, 'Come on Stan'. And he would be like, 'Y'all go ahead, I got asthma.' He had this thing with his pinky and when he did it, it meant sub him. He kept doing this and Flip kept ignoring him. Finally, we had to pick Big Stan up and run the 17 with him. It was about four of us, Big Stan made Shaq look like a peon."  

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Stanley Roberts played just one season with Garnett on the Wolves in the 1997-98 season. He had a short NBA career, playing just eight seasons and going through five teams in his tenure. He averaged 6.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in his sole season with the Wolves. 

He was a burly seven-footer, weighing nearly 300 pounds. Given he was playing when Shaquille O'Neal was in his prime, he would've been a very valuable body to have opposite Shaq, as Garnett alluded to as well. Big Stan averaged 8.5 points and 5.2 rebounds for his career.

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The Timberwolves Never Retired Kevin Garnett's Jersey 

The only MVP to come out of the Timberwolves franchise is Kevin Garnett but his jersey doesn't hang from the rafters of their arena. Despite Garnett doing everything in his power for 12 years of his career, the Timberwolves never made it past the Western Conference Finals. He averaged 9.8 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.6 blocks during his time with the Wolves, winning the 2004 MVP award.

To this day, the 2004 WCF was the furthest the Wolves have ever advanced in the playoffs. Still, Garnett's No. 21 has not been retired among 'FLIP' for Flip Saunders and No. 2 for Malik Sealy, who passed away while playing for the franchise. Sealy and Garnett were teammates and very good friends, with the Wolves legend even getting a tattoo honoring Sealy. 

The only explanation behind why Garnett's number was never retired is that they're waiting for the first player who's immortalized with a retired jersey to be the one to bring a championship to the franchise. Even though Garnett led them through their greatest period of relevance, he never put a banner in the arena and that would mean the team won't retire his jersey.

Garnett also had personal animosity with the previous owner Glen Taylor. If the new ownership group, which includes MLB legend Alex Rodriguez wants to mend fences, they can easily offer to put Garnett's No. 21 up in the rafters. But it does seem like they'd likely hold off for a championship-winning player to be their first retirement.

This isn't unprecedented, as the Toronto Raptors never retired Vince Carter's jersey for similar basketball reasons. Even though Carter made the Raptors a relevant franchise, his jersey won't go up. Kyle Lowry will likely be the first name to get his jersey retired there, as he was a club legend who brought a title. Carter wasn't that and unfortunately, Garnett isn't that. 

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