Two decades ago Tuesday night, a 19-year-old Kevin Garnett checked into the Timberwolves' opener. He played 16 minutes off the bench as Sam Mitchell's backup, scoring 8 points on 4-of-4 shooting with a rebound, an assist and a foul. The team lost to Sacramento.
Twelve days later, Karl-Anthony Towns was born.
On the 20th anniversary of Garnett's professional debut, there are many ways to measure what's happened since: 1,390 regular-season games, nearly 50,000 minutes, 26,000 points, 15,000 rebounds, an MVP award, a title, an exodus, a homecoming. ESPN's Marc Stein offered perhaps the most striking: There are 13 players in the NBA today who weren't yet born.