The Big Ticket is back!
The Los Angeles Clippers announced on Tuesday that they officially signed forward Kevin Garnett.
There's only one caveat. He's going to be a consultant, not a player.
Garnett's official role with the Clippers will not be as a coach, or an executive, but more as a mentor. Earlier in the NBA season, Garnett was seen at the team's traning camp in Irvine, working with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
Garnett's new role with the team is expected to be similar to what he did during that training camp period as the team announced that he will only occasionally be at practice to work with players, and will not travel with the team, nor be seen on the sidelines at Staples Center.
"He's hired in here as a consultant. So I'm sure he'll be in and out when it presents itself for him to work with our guys," Clippers assistant coach Mike Woodson told ESPN. "And I think when he's here, it's important for our bigs to take advantage of him being out here on the floor. Because he brings so much to the table, has so much to offer for the game of basketball, it's not even funny."
One of those big men is Jordan who is a leading candidate for defensive player of the year this season, and has had to take on more of an offensive role with the team since Griffin has been out with a knee injury.
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"Amazing. Amazing. Amazing," Jordan said of Garnett. "Besides him cussing me out, we played against each other. He's a great spirit and a great basketball mind, a Hall of Fame guy. Someone I looked up to coming up and even playing against. So any pointers he can give me, tips, it's great. I just want to be a student when he's here.
Like Garnett, Jordan is an active talker on the court and plays with plenty of passion and emotion. Both players are notorious for getting after it on the defensive end of the floor as well.
"I just want to be a student whenever he’s here." - @deandrejordan6, on new Clippers consultant Kevin Garnett
MORE: https://t.co/jah11btJHq pic.twitter.com/VzB6oUZKiD — NBA.com (@NBAcom) January 11, 2017
"He's one of the main reasons why I talk so much, talk so loud when I'm out there," continued Jordan. "Because when I'm watching film of him or playing against him, the presence that he has—on both sides of the floor—is something that's contagious."
The move reunites Garnett with his former head coach in Boston, Doc Rivers, as well as Celtics teammates Paul Pierce and Brandon Bass.
The power forward was a 15-time All-Star and NBA MVP in 2004 in stints with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, and New Jersey Nets. He will likely be a first ballot Hall-of-Famer in a few years time.
