Why Kevin Garnett is a class act

The Timberwolves are in the midst of bringing back 38-year-old Kevin Garnett to Target Center. He was drafted when I was learning how to read. I'm not saying he's going to turn this team around. I won't even look at his return from a basketball angle. I'm just here to tell you he's a really great guy.

Rewind to January of 2000. My older brother Mike was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 13. It was the same year KG's best friend and Timberwolves guard Malik Sealy was killed by a drunk driver on the way home from his birthday party. We all experience hardship.

Fast forward to July of 2002. Mike had just had his second brain surgery. A neighbor who knew KG had told him Mike's story. Apparently, he was so moved he wanted to come over and meet Mike, so he did. Just like that.

He sat and talked with my family for a few hours out of the goodness of his heart. He signed a pair of his shoes, and wrote on them, "Keep bossing your baby sister around." He put his jersey over my head, which was comically large, and let me keep it. He whispered a few nuggets of wisdom to Mike that he hasn't told anyone to this day, but most of all, KG told Mike to take everything one day at a time. Mike still bosses me around, we had that jersey framed forever, and he still takes everything one day at a time. As for the other stuff he told him, I think KG would be proud of my big brother either way.

KG was gracious, polite and he didn't want any publicity, and it's that attitude that Wolves fans should remember as they welcome him back to Target Center. The man is simply a class act.