While fans in Boston get to celebrate their sixth professional sports championship in the last 7 years, the real story in the Celtics rejoice is a few thousand miles directly west in Minnesota. I would guess that while this NBA Finals gained a higher TV Rating than those of years past, the TV Rating in Minnesota was probably the largest spike in the country. For those who think that only the fans in Boston and L.A. had a real stake in the outcome of the 2008 Finals, you’re wrong. Dead wrong.
Here in Minnesota we needed vindication. We needed justification. We needed solid proof that sending the former basketball messiah of the Timberwolves to another team wasn’t just to rebuild but was also a move to give KG the opportunity he probably wouldn’t have gotten here and win an NBA Title. So as the Celtics took control of Game 6 and put the Lakers away to secure the championship, the fans here in Minnesota felt a large sigh of relief. We saw our boy in a different color get what he deserved. Kevin Garnett never has to be mentioned along with Malone, Stockton, Baylor, Barkley or Ewing ever again and even though he earned that distinction in a Celtic uniform, the Timberwolves fans are among those who are happiest for KG.
Going into Game 5, there was a running joke between a few friends and myself about how crazy KG would be once he actually won. He didn’t disappoint. In his post-game interview with Michele Tafoya he combined exasperation, relief, excitement, tears and insanity to the point that if someone were to play that clip to Joakim Noah he would say, “Wow, that dude is crazy… pass that bong over here,†but never did we not understand what he was saying. Oh, and if you are wondering, I was able to hold back my own tears but my house got surprisingly dusty when KG was yelling, “TOP OF THE WORRRRLD!â€
In Minnesota we heard your shout out to all of us who still hold you in high regard Kev, and we will be standing by to defend you, when later this summer, sports writers and other hacks try and bring you back down by saying you could only win when you weren’t the only option and you couldn’t succeed on your own. We are already armed with the simple defense, “So he’s in the same category as Kobe, then?â€
Lastly, I’m publicly going to state that I am ready to take the lead and plan a KG Championship Celebration Parade here in Minnesota. He deserves it and not to take anything away from Boston, but KG won a little bit of that championship for us back here stuck in Kevin McHale desolation. We deserve it.