The Likeable But Not Clutch One

By Sam Rubenstein

Over the weekend, Khalid took the time to ask the simple question, what’s the deal with the Kobe love/hate stuff, for real? His performance last night was, in a word, weird. To be completely honest, I do not understand what was happening with him out there, it had to be more than Tom Thibodeau’s drawings. But enough about Kobe (ha ha, yeah right). Let’s take a look at the other side of the face they split into halves for the ad campaign.

Kevin Garnett

“It was trash,” Garnett would later say of his performance, this after the Lakers had claimed a 103-98 victory over the Celtics. “I played like garbage tonight. I can do better and I will.”

“I could never really get into a rhythm,” Garnett said. “I was playing on my heels the whole night.”

“Those are free throws I know I can hit,” he said. “But I’ll take them again if you put me in that situation. I’ll have the confidence to knock them down.”

The MVP of a team doesn’t always win Finals MVP. James Worthy won it for the Lakers, Joe Dumars won it for the Pistons, Tony Parker won it last year. But it’s really kind of bizarre that the Celtics potential Finals MVP pecking order is Pierce, Allen, Posey?, Garnett. I am one of those people that always disliked Karl Malone and always enjoyed watching KG, because of their personalities and their games. But you have to admit, they seem to be handling The Finals at crunch time similarly.

So now I ask you another extra vague question. What is the deal with KG?