Kevin Garnett out of bounds with nonpayment on mansion work, lawsuit alleges

Claim concerns renovations to ex-basketball star’s Malibu home

Kevin Garnett and his Malibu property (Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images, and Hilton & Hyland)
Kevin Garnett and his Malibu property (Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images, and Hilton & Hyland)

Kevin Garnett will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this summer. But the saga surrounding his Malibu mansion recalls the NBA legend’s losing seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Westlake Village-based contractor G3 Group filed a lawsuit against Garnett in Los Angeles County Superior Court last Friday, accusing the retired basketball star of not paying for construction work that the company provided on his home between February and October of last year.

G3, which bills itself as a “Los Angeles based firm, specializing in the construction of fine homes,” claims it is owed $173,000 due to the breach of contract, plus attorney’s fees, interest, and utilization of a mechanic’s lien if the property enters foreclosure.

George Daniel, a New York-based attorney and Garnett’s longtime business representative, responded to questions in an email stating, “We dispute the allegations and have no further comment at this time.”

A $173,000 claim would seem a pittance to Garnett who earned $343 million in salary alone during a 21-year playing career with the Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, and Brooklyn Nets that ended in 2016.

The retired NBA star filed a lawsuit against his accountant two years ago over $77 million in allegedly squandered money. But G3’s lawsuit is a decided wrinkle in Garnett’s one-time attempt to sell his Pacific Coast Highway mansion.

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Garnett bought the property for $6.4 million in 2003, according to Redfin and county records, using the estate as an off-season home where he would run on the beach while singing.

By 2013, Garnett began remodeling, and in September 2018 he listed the estate for $19.9 million with sales agents Barbara Tennanbaum and Eric Hassan of Hilton & Hyland. But Garnett quietly took the home off the market last September.

The 8,156-square feet property was built in 1991 and has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, according to Redfin.

Exhibits accompanying the lawsuit offer a glimpse of pricey renovations on Garnett’s home. An email from Daniel to interior designer Lisa Black indicates his client’s willingness to pay $695,000 for new doors and windows. Garnett also was considering other improvements, including spending $315,000 for a granite driveway, $307,000 for exterior stucco, and $31,000 for a pool house roof.

It is unclear from the exhibits if G3 was the contractor for the renovations, or what construction the firm precisely did on the Garnett property.

G3’s attorney, Craig Diamond, declined to say what the improvements were for, and messages left with the company were not returned.