Wolves Ticket Demand Explodes With KG's Return
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- By the reaction of Minnesota Timberwolves fans at Hubert's next to the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis, you would have thought the Kevin Garnett of "old" was coming back.
Not the 38-year-old KG.
"I grew up watching him play and I met him a couple times," fan Antonio Benavides said. "I'm excited. I'm beyond excited, I'm so happy."
Despite a decade of losing seasons, Tony Kasik still dons plenty of Timberwolves apparel.
The former season ticket holder is now looking for tickets once again -- all because his favorite player has come home.
"He can teach the young kids how to play. He'll be a defensive anchor, which we haven't had since he's left," Kasik said. "Which is going to be great. Somebody that actually protects the rim and helps out on defense."
The KG trade has also led to a major rebound in Timberwolves ticket sales. At Ticket King in Minneapolis, a quiet Thursday afternoon took a dramatic turn.
"All of the sudden our website was going crazy with Timberwolves sales. And I thought, 'Wow, am I missing something?' Well, sure enough I was," Ticket King President Michael Nowakowski said.
Nowakowski hopped on the Timberwolves website and found the reason why.
The KG news caused Wolves ticket sales from Wednesday to Thursday to jump by 794 percent.
Nowakowski was sad to see Garnett go, but he's very happy he's coming back.
"The sales just kept happening and happening to the point where, and I haven't done this in a long time, but I actually raised Timberwolves prices. They are selling as many tickets as the Wild right now," Nowakowski said.
He says it was the busiest day at Ticket King for Timberwolves ticket sales in 10 years.
Click here to take a stroll down memory lane with our vintage KG photo gallery.