A post from NBA Retweet on X on Oct. 10 stated, “Kevin Garnett retired from the NBA in 2016, but set up his deal with the Celtics so that he’d get paid $5 million every year until 2024. Smart. 💰”
Garnett retired from the league in 2016 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 2020.
This unusual arrangement can be traced back to an agreement he forged with the Celtics during his playing days. According to NBC Sports, as cited in 2011 by Steve Aschburner, Garnett and the Celtics structured a deal in which a portion of his salary would be deferred, ensuring that he would receive $35 million over seven years after his retirement.
Garnett was a star with the Minnesota Timberwolves before he was traded to the Celtics before the 2007-08 season. There, he joined forces with legends Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to lead the Celts to an NBA championship in 2008.
After six fruitful years with the Celtics, Garnett spent part of two seasons with the Brooklyn Nets before concluding his illustrious career with the Timberwolves, the team that drafted him as a high school phenom in 1995. He was the first of the prep-to-pro stars—including Kobe Bryant and LeBron James—that made headlines into the mid-2000s.
Garnett averaged 17.8 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game in his career, along with a shooting percentage of 49.7%. He was named the NBA’s most valuable player for the 2003-04 season and the league’s defensive player of the year four years later.
His postseason legacy is equally noteworthy. “The Big Ticket” appeared in an astounding 143 NBA playoff games and reached the Finals twice, 2008 and 2010.
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