Look, Kevin Garnett from all accounts is a good guy, a great player and an emotional fellow. Mazel tov and props to him for his big victory Tuesday.
But as I watched Michele Tafoya's scary/fascinating post-game interview with Garnett, during which he seemed to be speaking in tongues, I was thinking this:
It is impossible to imagine Bob Cousy or Bill Russell or Larry Bird or Dennis Johnson acting this way on national TV after winning a title. And why is that?
Because the cultural expectations for publicly displayed emotion and celebration have changed, whether it's because of SportsCenter or reality TV or . . . oh, never mind.
I'm just old. Whatever.
Congrats, KG.
Comments (8)
Maybe it's because Cousy, Russell, Bird and DJ were ALWAYS on a winning team. It's been a much longer trip for KG to the title, than those other guys. KG has been in the hinderlands his whole career, where the media has constantly pointed out his team's underachievments in the playoffs. There is such pressure on great players to win titles, and if they don't they will be viewed as having unfulfilled careers. (Just ask Stockton, Malone, Barkley and Ewing.) I think his show of emotion is understandable. By all accounts his emotion and desire to win is genuine. I give him the beneift of the doubt. (But I still can't stand the celtics...)
bgl-in-slc summed it up. garnetts been very loyal to the wolves and had to deal with that bum marbury, the death of his idol malik sealy, the silly under the table scenario with joe smith, the selfish cassell and sprewell and the not respected coach flip saunders.
I'm fine with the dude being excited. Good for him. My point was that his reaction is a 21st century phenomenon.
Maybe I should have used as examples names of past athletes who were not Celtics and did not win all the time. Here are more 20th century athletes that would not have reacted publicly as KG did:
Duke Snider
Jackie Robinson
Willis Reed
Mark Messier
Walter Johnson
Lawrence Taylor
Secretariat
Bjorn Borg
Babe Ruth
Joe Louis
Derek Jeter
Ed Charles
Walter Payton
Muhammad Ali
Oh, wait . . . Ali did sometimes react a little like KG. OK. I take it all back. Sorry BGL-SLC. Have I seen you since that time I visited your house and watched the triple OT Villanova game in the NCAAs? Wasn't that in, like, 1995 or something? Yikes
Neil, at first Garnett was speechless for a moment. Then he yell some curse words. He acted like a drunk guy who had a few drinks during the game. Michele Tafoya was in a tough spot there. She had to do the interview just moments after the game and caught Garnett at a weird moment. I don't know what I would have done at that moment. But I thought Michele Tafoya did the best that she can do under those circumstances. I saw the interview live last night and I'm sure its on YouTube.
Garnett spent his whole career being the cannon fodder for the Lakers in the 1st round. His team management on the T'Wolves screwed up whatever chance he had in his true prime by the Joe Smith debacle that cost them good draft picks.
Garnett said he's "certified"? More like certifiable, KG. Thanks for the laugh.
Doctor J went through the same path as Garnett and he won he wasn't incoherent.
Great kid. Emotional. Plays his heart out. His career is pretty amazing. Really happy he won the championship. Sorry he had to get out of Minnesota to get it done. A reminder from Dylan:
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.