Wednesday, August 1, 2007

A day has passed since the Kevin Garnett trade. I've had some time to gather myself and sort out my thoughts.

It's a lot to digest.

In my blog entries yesterday, I talked about how I am now a Celtics fan, and how my loyalty is with the player I grew up watching and emulating. That is all true -- a team is only as true as its personnel. Maybe that's different if Minnesota is your home state, and you feel like you have to support the team no matter who's in uniform. That's fine. I understand and appreciate that.

But generally, a team is just a name. A shell. It's the inhabitants of that shell that truly mean something. Without Kevin Garnett, the Minnesota Timberwolves no longer hold the same meaning for me. I no longer recognize the team, a shadow of its former self. Kevin Garnett was the reason I identified with the Timberwolves.

But let me say this. I will miss the Timberwolves. And I will miss being a Timberwolves fan.

I will miss the blue and black and white. The menacing Timberwolves logo. Crunch. Mark Madsen. I will miss the Number 21, which I believe the Timberwolves will retire. Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves jersey were a perfect match.

Nothing will be the same again.

Some people might think that's weird, or that I'm taking basketball way too seriously, and that there's no need to ever put this much thought into it.

But they wouldn't understand.

Kevin Garnett as a Timberwolf was a blessing. The images and associations of him playing his heart out in that Number 21 have been an inspiration in my own life -- be it school, work, outlook and attitude. It's gotten me through a lot. I've been able to channel the Timberwolf #21 beacon, and apply it to everything I do. I probably wouldn't be the same person today if Kevin Garnett never put on a Timberwolves jersey.

I will cherish all the Timberwolf #21 memories and history. A lot of smiles and cries.

More than a decade's worth.

Some 10 years ago, Penny Hardaway and Michael Jordan were my favorite players. Shawn Kemp as well. But Kevin Garnett came and soon took their place, and changed my life forever.

From the moment I saw that tall, skinny cat with the insane wingspan play basketball and dunk like there was no tomorrow, I knew he would be special. As a kid, I used to point him out to my father -- "You know? that guy with the long arms and legs."

From that instant, I knew I would be a Timberwolves fan for a long time to time.

Through the early days -- the dope highlights, the vicious dunks, the infinitely marketable megawatt personality, the Nike ads, the Fun Police commercials, the NBA promos -- Kevin Garnett became a player I increasingly paid attention to.

I started to identify with him more and more, and everything began to click.

A defining moment came during the 1998 Playoffs, when the seventh-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves came away with a 2-1 lead over the second-seeded Sonics in the first round. I remember being in awe of an intense Kevin Garnett, exuberantly screaming at Stephon Marbury -- "YEAHH BOYYY!!" -- during the post game interview.

That was when I started wearing a rubberband on my wrist, everywhere I went. And I still do today.

2007-2008 will mark a new beginning and era for Kevin Garnett and his fans. It's bittersweet for that his last game as a Timberwolf was against the Toronto Raptors, a game that I watched on TV. His last made basket as a Timberwolf was a dunk, appropriately enough.

It's all very emotional.

Michael Jordan is the greatest player ever in my book, and he has also influenced me a lot. But Kevin Garnett is my favorite player of all time, and will always be. Nothing will ever change that.

I've been a big fan of many players of the past (MJ, the Pennys, the Kemps) and many player of the present (the Iversons, the McGradys, the Ray Allens). But they come and go -- as a new generation of players has already arrived (The LeBrons, the Melos, the Durants) -- and I will root for them as well. There will always be great players, and I will always enjoy watching them play.

But none of them have left, or will leave, as colossal a legacy and lasting impact on my life as Kevin Garnett.

That part of the Timberwolves era means the world to me. And In essence, Kevin Garnett will always be Timberwolf #21.

And so while I continue on as a new Celtics fan and cheer for the new Celtic #5, I will treasure the memories I have of being a Timberwolves fan. Because those stories are etched eternally in the Kevin Garnett folklore.

And in my own folklore.

I carry that with me proud.