Lonewolf

KEVIN GARNETT HAS KEPT HIS FOCUS ON THE COURT WHILE THE TIMBERWOLVES PLANS TO BUILD A TITLE CONTENDER HAVE TAKEN ONE HIT AFTER ANOTHER.

Kevin Garnett wasn't banging his head against the locker room wall at Denver's Pepsi Center, but only because he didn't have the strength. His Timberwolves had coughed up a double-digit first-period lead, and he at halftime. The Nuggets had in overtime, and afterward he threw up again.

Garnett was 6 feet, 11 inches of sickness, slapped by a bug that had circled the team. After he showered, his head--leaning against the wall--and shoulders were covered by a towel. Another towel was wrapped around a waist that would make Kate Moss grin. The slogan printed on both towels was dear, except for the last word. It said: "The Joy of ..."

Well, it certainly wasn't the joy of basketball, at least not for Garnett, at least not that night.

Twenty-four hours later, Garnett was sitting in front of his locker at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves, who had just lost a two-point game to the 76ers, were owners of a worrisome 2-4 record. The first question to Garnett: How do you feel?

"I feel good every night," he said. "It's the game of basketball, it's what I love. I might cough this up, cough that up, but when it comes down to it, I'm always happy to be out on the floor."

On second thought, maybe it was "The Joy of Basketball" all along. How else to explain Garnett? How else to explain how the highest-paid player in the NBA--who also has been through more organizational hellfire than any player in the NBA--continues to thrive?

Think about what Garnett has lost in his NBA career, which is barely into its sixth season. The names are already legend in Minnesota for what might have been: Gugliotta. Marbury. Sealy. All are gone from the Timberwolves. Take those three, toss in Garnett, and think--no, dream--about the possibilities.

Only don't ask Garnett to do the same. He lives in the now, not the then.

"You have to stay together," is about all he will say on the subject. "Through adversity and difficult times, one of the main keys is staying together as a team and not losing focus."

When Joe Smith's secret contract dealings with Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor became known in early September, it was merely the latest big blow to Garnett and the Timberwolves. Commissioner David Stem took away Smith's Larry Bird rights, declared him a free agent, took away the team's first-round draft picks for the next five years, took away $3.5 million in fines and put Garnett in one fine mess. While Smith toured the league looking for a new contract during the opening weeks of the season--and even gave consideration to staying in Minnesota--Garnett concentrated on trying to turn things around on the court.

Since early on, all "The Kid" has talked about is winning a ring. Since coming from Chicago's Farragut Academy to the Timberwolves with the fifth pick in the 1995 draft, that has been his goal every year. Even with the death of close friend and teammate Malik Sealy in an off-season automobile accident and the possible loss of Smith this fall, Garnett is sticking to his goal.

"Most definitely," he says. "You can't think anything different. I've always told my teammates, `If you don't think we're going to win it, if you're not in here to lay it down on the line and push for the world championship, then leave. Because you're wasting your time, you're wasting our time.' We're here to win. We're here to try to strive for that."

BUILDING IT UP

Let's go back for a moment, to a time before the losses of Sealy and the draft picks put a red slash through Minnesota's title hopes.

In Garnett's rookie season, the Timberwolves were a combustible mess. Isaiah Rider and Christian Laettner were the leading scorers on Team Disunity, which finished 26-56.

Then the heavens opened. In 1996-97, Rider and Laettner were gone, replaced by a new triumvirate. Tom Gugliotta was by then a third-year Timberwolves whose career was on a fast uptick. Stephon Marbury was a rookie point guard from Georgia Tech who could dish, shoot and score. And Garnett was a 20-year-old NBA sophomore, beginning to learn the ways of the league.

The three combined to average 52 points their first year together, and the Timberwolves finished a franchise-best 40-42. In 1997-98, they were pounding out 55 points a game and the Timberwolves upped the ante again, finishing 45-37.

Garnett signed a six-year, $126 million contract before the 1997-98 season, and that document--although unknown at the time--was the first sign of damnation for the Timberwolves. That's because Garnett's deal triggered the owners' lockout before the 1998-99 season.

As things turned out, that was the end of Minnesota's three-star dream.

TEARING IT DOWN

Gugliotta was the first to go, signing with Phoenix as a free agent soon before the 50-game 1999 season began. Word was he didn't like playing with Marbury. The Timberwolves then signed Smith, a free agent who had been the No. I draft pick in 1995 but had sputtered with Golden State and Philadelphia.