Column: Could Garnett be following in Jordan's shoes?

Chicago Tribune
Published Saturday, May 22, 2004


Sure, they had Michael Jordan, and he was the MVP that season. But he didn't win the big ones. He was 28 and known for spectacular play and losing in the playoffs.

And then Jordan and his underappreciated team showed up to play the wily veteran former champions.

No chance, right?

Fast forward to 2004.

"The Lakers are a big challenge, but I feel we're up for it," said Kevin Garnett, whose Minnesota Timberwolves open the Western Conference finals Friday at home against the Lakers.

That's 28-year-old MVP Garnett, whose team finally overcame its playoff "billy goat" after seven consecutive first-round ousters. Garnett put on one of those Jordanesque, otherworldly big-game performances against the Sacramento Kings Wednesday night with 32 points, 21 rebounds, five blocks, four steals and the offensive and defensive plays of the game. It left Garnett with averages of 23.9 points, 15.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.4 blocks for the series and everyone searching for adjectives.

"The performance from KG was one for the record books," said Timberwolves backup Mark Madsen, a former Laker. "You talk about the great ones in the history of the league and you're talking about KG."

So is it Garnett's time? The 1991 playoffs became Jordan's time. Before that, his reputation around the NBA suggested George Gervin with a nice smile. He'd get you points, but not the big ones.

Likewise with Garnett, who was written off as lacking after last year's playoff loss to the Lakers. He supposedly didn't come up big in the biggest games. He wasn't a fourth-quarter performer. He didn't make teammates better. He had the trophies, but not the rings.

"I don't read ya'll columns so I don't know what ya'll think of me," Garnett said after the Game-7 victory over the Kings. "I don't hear I'm not a fourth-quarter scorer. I was just telling everyone to follow my lead. I kept telling Sam (Cassell) and Spree (Latrell Sprewell) to give me the ball and feed off me. I felt like I had to be the example to everybody. I didn't want to be driving home and wondering if I could have done more."

It's the stuff of greatness, and this series offers the best of it.

Yes, everyone said that with the Lakers and Spurs, and the Spurs had the portfolio as defending champions. But in Garnett and Kobe Bryant, this series has the two most dynamic individual players in the game. If you're looking for players to haul a team around with their individual brilliance, they're probably the two best.

"From the first preseason game to the last game, his focus doesn't change," former Bull Fred Hoiberg said of Garnett. "It's unlike anything I've ever seen. Playing with him this season has shown me how much leadership means on the floor. There are so few like him. To have that same focus every day is amazing."

The Lakers won't be able to collapse in the lane quite as much as they did against the Spurs because the Timberwolves are a better perimeter-shooting team. They'll throw Madsen and their centers at O'Neal and hope he continues to shoot 37 percent on free throws. The Lakers will lean on their playoff experience to offset the Timberwolves' home court and 3-1 edge in games this season, though the Lakers' Big Four didn't all play until the last game, which was an easy win.

"Nobody is going to give us a chance other than the people in Minnesota," said Wolves center Ervin Johnson, a veteran of the '96 Finals with Seattle. "They'll say say the Lakers have four Hall of Famers and should win."

Just as they did in 1991 about Magic Johnson's Lakers. The Bulls had home court, the MVP who then was 28, and a legacy of losing and disappointment. The Timberwolves have Garnett and a bunch of underappreciated guys.

Is it their time?