Kevin Garnett

High school

Mauldin High School

Pro team(s)

Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets

Hall of Fame

⭐ Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Kevin Maurice Garnett was born on May 19, 1976, in Greenville, South Carolina, and grew up in the nearby suburb of Mauldin, where he attended Mauldin High School. He emerged as the most dominant young big man in the nation before transferring to Farragut Academy in Chicago for his senior year following a racially charged incident involving a fight at Mauldin High School. The transfer proved transformative: his elite play at Farragut made him the most coveted prospect in the country and gave him the exposure to be selected 5th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves directly out of high school in the 1995 NBA Draft — one of the last players of his generation to make that leap before the NBA required one year of college. Garnett spent 12 seasons with Minnesota, willing a perpetually undermanned Timberwolves team to relevance, winning the 2003-04 NBA MVP award with one of the greatest individual statistical seasons in modern NBA history (.499 FG%, 24.2 ppg, 13.9 rpg, 5.0 apg). Traded to the Boston Celtics in 2007, he formed the legendary "Big Three" with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, and the Celtics won the 2008 NBA Championship — Garnett delivering one of the most raw emotional celebrations in sports history ("Anything is possible!"). A 15-time NBA All-Star, Garnett was one of the greatest defensive players and most intense competitors the league has ever seen. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020. Born and raised in Mauldin, South Carolina.