Kevin Garnett doesn't need champagne
Granted, the media limits the possibilities, but I have never seen anybody celebrate a championship - in any sport - with the unadulterated jubilation Kevin Garnett did Tuesday night.
It wasn't just his throw-your-head-back-curse-laden howling (during a live postgame interview, no less - maybe the best postgame interview EVER), not the sweaty tears or even the fact that he put Danny Ainge in a headlock long enough that the GM was visibly losing circulation.
It was most evident to me that Garnett could barely handle the release of 12 years of pent up combustible competitiveness when the championship was first sinking in. Several times before the clock expired on the Celtics 39-point win over the Lakers, Garnett bent down, put his hands on his knees and his head under a towel in what I feel sure was an attempt to keep his head from exploding.
For crying out loud, it was revealed that Garnett didn't sleep for a four-day period of the Eastern Conference Finals that stretched from sometime after Game 4 past Game 6. Tuesday night, he said he "wasn't fixin' to sleep for a week." And he probably didn't sleep LAST week. I know Jordan used to have all-night gambling sessions, but does that even compare to this?
Outwardly, Garnett is the most driven athlete I've ever laid eyes on. I'm sure there have been others more driven, but they never revealed it like this maniac. The pain most of those 12 years in Minnesota caused him was palpable, the best evidence of which I can remember in an interview he did with John Thompson that I believe was in the midst of the 2006 season, the lowest of the low for Garnett for two reasons: the T-wolves finished 33-49 the year Garnett turned 30 and 2004, the year the T-Wolves made the Conference Finals (the only year he made it out of the first round before this season), was well in the rearview mirror and something he knew wasn't going to happen again in Minnesota anytime soon (Not that we should be surprised, but even at the height of his hysteria, Garnett gave a shout out to "the 'Sota" in his postgame interview on Tuesday).
With Thompson hardly pressing him for answers, Garnett broke down on camera. He kept repeating "I'm losing man. I'm losing," staring Thompson in the face with tears streaming down his own. His loyalty to the Timberwolves juxtaposed with the organization's inability to put players around him was the ultimate conflict for a person of his make up. He endured it far longer than most any other superstar would have. (Cough) Kobe.
Tuesday night made it all worth it for anybody who has sympathized with or admired Garnett for loyalty that's getting more rare by the season. He could barely stand up afterward. He was drunk before any of the champagne bottles were uncorked.
The best comparison I can think of is John Elway, but that isn't really all that close. Had Charles Barkley won a title, the emotional release might have been comparable. Allen Iverson may fall in the same category in terms of visible desire to win. Dan Marino wanted it bad, but not like Garnett.
Tuesday night was the perfect combination: a storybook ending for a player who tells his story like no other.