Kevin Garnett Recently Talked of Retiring, According to His Trusted Friend Sam Cassell

by Ricky Doyle on Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 8:45AM

Kevin Garnett has nothing left to prove.

We'll know before long whether that notion will convince Garnett to ride off into the sunset this offseason, but retirement is at least a possibility, according to one of KG's good friends.

Sam Cassell, who played with Garnett in both Minnesota and Boston, told ESPN's Jackie MacMullan that The Big Ticket talked of retiring "as recently as 10 days ago." However, Cassell — who MacMullan describes as a "trusted friend" — reportedly tried to convince Garnett to continue playing, as his advice was for the Celtics big man to play as long as he can.

Garnett, of course, is a free agent, and there's widespread speculation that he could call it a career. The 36-year-old has an NBA title, an MVP Award, a Defensive Player of the Year Award and 14 All-Star selections to his credit, so there might not be a lot of incentive for him to continue playing, even though he did experience somewhat of a Renaissance this season.

If Garnett does continue his basketball career, Cassell thinks he may stick around Boston, which is something that captain Paul Pierce has already expressed a desire to see.

"KG is a loyal guy," Cassell reportedly said. "I can't see him playing for anyone else except Doc [Rivers] at this point."

Ray Allen is also a free agent for the Celtics, so this offseason should be an interesting one. Stay tuned.