MINNEAPOLIS -

Kevin Garnett has seen some difficult times during his 11 seasons in Minnesota.

From the death of teammate and friend Malik Sealy in 2000, to years of first-round playoff exits, to last season’s epic fall from Western Conference finalists to the lottery, the disappointments have been many.

Yet this may be Garnett’s most challenging season yet, and as his Timberwolves sink toward missing the playoffs for a second straight year, the former MVP is letting it be known that his patience is wearing thin.

“I don’t want to go through this any more,” Garnett said after the Wolves squeaked out a win over the lowly New York Knicks on Sunday. “I think I’m more deserving of a better team and I think the city’s more deserving of a better team, coming in here having something that’s going to be competitive and having us getting back to the Western Conference finals. But I do know you just can’t blink and it’s going to happen; you have to actually spend the time and effort. So, we’ll see.”

The Timberwolves were off Monday and after practice Tuesday, Garnett, as usual, declined to speak to reporters. His coach and teammates, however, echoed the sentiments when talking about a trying season. While not mathematically eliminated from the playoff race just yet, the Timberwolves trail eighth-place Sacramento by six games with 12 to play.

“Kevin has opinions and is frustrated,” first-year coach Dwane Casey said. “We’re all frustrated. We’re not happy with where we are. Nobody wants to not be fighting for the division lead. I think he just spoke his mind on the feeling of everyone, from (owner) Glen Taylor all the way down to our trainer.”

Garnett certainly is trying. In a town where former Vikings receiver Randy Moss once infamously uttered, “I play when I want to play,” no one has ever questioned KG’s effort. He is averaging 21.8 points and 12.4 rebounds in 39 minutes this season, the latest in a long line of superb performances.

For all those efforts and all that energy expended, the wins have been hard to come by. The young Timberwolves enter Wednesday night’s game at 29-41, well on their way to their worst record since they won 26 games in 1995-96.

“We’re not in such dire straits as everyone thinks,” Casey said. “We’re probably in the rebuilding process, whatever, but I think we’re a couple pieces away, or not that far away from getting to where we want to be. ... But it’s a process.”

For the most part, Garnett has kept quiet, preferring not to criticize teammates or the organization in public. He had some strong words for vice president Kevin McHale during a television interview early in the season, and questioned his teammates’ commitment after a loss to Phoenix on March 11, but Sunday’s comments were the most poignant yet.

“I’ve always said I’ll be in Minnesota as long as they want me here,” he said after the game. “I don’t think I can take another one of these rebuilding stages. I’ve always said that I think I’m worth not only being listened to but I think I’m definitely in a position where I (should) have a team and ... a chance to win a ring. So I think, at the end of the day, they should at least give me that. If it’s anything different from that, then it’s a discussion we have to talk about.”

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McHale has declined all interview requests, but it’s clear he has some work to do in the offseason. He tried to shake up the team in February, when he traded Wally Szczerbiak and Michael Olowokandi to Boston for Ricky Davis, Marcus Banks and Mark Blount.

The Timberwolves have been slow to jell since, and Taylor may be forced to spend some serious money on free agents in the offseason to keep his only superstar happy.

“I have faith in Glen that he’ll do the right thing,” Garnett said.

His teammates hear their leader loud and clear.

“I think Kev’s a really emotional guy,” said Banks, one of the young players who has been learning on the job. “He wears his emotions on his shoulders. You know when he’s mad. You know when things are not going well. Every night he’s going to come out and give you 100 percent.”