- [Narrator] It's May 19th, 2004.
We're in Minneapolis where it's game seven
of a Western conference semi-final
between the Timberwolves and the Sacramento Kings.
Down three points, the Kings have the ball
and two seconds to send this game to overtime.
If they miss here, it's all over, Wolves advance.
Before we see what happens, we need to meet these teams
and the centerpiece players who will decide this moment.
We need to rewind.
(warm music)
Yep, we might be headed for even more basketball.
Somewhere the super stacked,
already advanced LA Lakers are just chilling
and waiting for their conference final opponent.
Good for you, Lakers.
In here it is the opposite of chill.
The possibility of a game seven needing overtime
has 20,000 people on razor's edge,
exactly what you would expect from this matchup.
(tape whirring)
The Minnesota Timberwolves have existed since 1989.
Since then, their regular season record
against the Sacramento Kings is a clean 30 and 30.
That record includes four consecutive
overtime games spanning all of 2003.
So of course this first ever post-season matchup
between the Kings and Wolves has been neck
and neck, tit for tat.
Each team stole an early road win.
We've even gotten overtime
and each team won one
of the last two games by double digits.
Constant drawn out battles have engendered respect
between enemies, but they're also really sick of each other
and they're getting feisty.
Game five saw some ejections, game six saw more
and that actually matters now.
Anthony Peeler, a former Wolf tangled with one
of his good friends, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett.
This fight, if you can call one guy weaponizing his elbow
and the other guy immediately declining
to retaliate a fight,
got Peeler suspended for this game seven.
Garnett managed to avoid suspension for that scuffle
and for his prolonged, eerily calm,
extremely specific gun metaphor,
describing his preparation for this game.
- I'm sitting in the house, I'm loading up the pump,
I'm loading up the Uzi.
I got a couple of M16s, a couple nines.
I got a couple joints with some silencers on 'em.
I'm just loading up clips, couple grenades.
Got a missile launch with a couple missiles.
I'm ready for war.
- [Narrator] So Peeler's not here
to offer three point shooting when the Kings
desperately need it.
Garnett meanwhile is over here scrambling to prevent
that three pointer and avoid yet another deadlock.
He's trying to stop Chris Webber.
If you've heard of anyone on this court, it's these guys.
You know each of Webber
and Garnett as the face of his franchise.
But first you knew them as the vanguard
of the power forward position.
(tape whirring)
Webber came first, electrifying the state
of Michigan in high school
and then in college with the Fab Five Wolverines.
As an eighth grader,
Kevin Garnett watched Webber dominate
the 1991 McDonald's high school All American game.
He saw an older kid about his size
blocking shots all the way to half court,
acting crazy, hollering.
Chris had a lot of personality
and energy to go
with a cross positional repertoire of skill.
Kevin liked that and a few years later,
strongly considered following Webber's footsteps
to the University of Michigan.
The Wolverines would've been delighted to mobilize
yet another revolutionary power forward.
But the 18 year old Garnett tried something even bolder,
entering the 1995 NBA draft straight
after his senior high school season.
Ever since Webber versus Garnett has been one
of the best shows in the NBA.
It's a wonderful rivalry, friendly,
but jaw-dropping in intensity
and creativity once the sneakers hit the hard wood.
The first time these guys met as pros in '96,
Webber and his Washington Bullets got the better of Garnett
and his still pretty new Wolves.
Garnett looked so dazzled to be facing his role model
that veteran Minnesota teammate Sam Mitchell
gave Kevin a little slap in the face to snap him out of it.
Garnett snapped out of it.
In his sophomore season, KG absolutely blossomed.
In 1997, a kid two years removed from high school
made sports history.
Minnesota extended Garnett's contract for six years
and $126 million,
at the time, the largest contract ever in any pro sport.
When you do that, you shake the league
and franchise owners were quite shook indeed
and you also placed big expectations on everyone involved.
When you sign that contract, you're expected
to become a superstar.
And Kevin did that, exploding outside the box
of how a big guy is expected to play.
He has been worth it the whole time.
Perennial all-star, always in the conversation for all NBA
and all defense.
For six straight seasons, Kevin held up his end of the deal,
but those Minnesota rosters included one all-star teammate
and I'm sorry, Wally Szczerbiak,
but I have no idea how you pulled this off.
And they won zero playoff series, first round elimination
after first round elimination.
Most recently, it was a glum collapse last season
against the Lakers,
Minnesota went up two-one in the series, up double digits
in game four and then just (narrator raspberries).
See when you offer that contract,
you're expected to go all in,
nail down a supporting cast and contend for a title.
The Wolves haven't done that.
They fumbled away Garnett's initial co-stars.
They drew a debilitating league penalty for trying
to snake the free agent system.
And there's been tragedy too in the 2000 death
of Garnett's teammate
and close friend Malik Sealy.
To the extent that the Wolves won during those years
and they did win in the regular season,
it was Garnett making that happen.
Immediately after last season's sixth straight
playoff elimination,
Garnett again became extension eligible.
The Wolves knew they had to ante up if they wanted
to keep their guy and if they wanted
to contend during his prime, so they did.
That June deal that sent away Anthony Peeler
and his elbows brought back Sam Cassell,
a ballsy battle tested veteran point guard
with championship experience.
A month later, Minnesota acquired Latrell Sprewell
who had reestablished himself as a star scorer
after his whole thing.
Free agent pickup Trenton Hassell has really broken out
as a defensive specialist.
This is a real supporting cast.
These pickups helped convince Garnett to re-up.
Still as KG goes, so go the Wolves.
And KG went this year.
This was by far the best season in Timberwolves history.
They're the damn one seed in the West.
They throttled the Denver Nuggets
to deliver the franchise's first playoff series win.
Garnett notched a 20-20 triple double in one
of those victories and closed the thing out
with a 28 point performance.
A month into these playoffs,
Garnett's only wavered once.
Ironically, it was in game one of this series right
after they gave him a trophy for that incredible season.
(tape whirring)
That's right, you are looking
at the 2004 NBA MVP right here
and trust that he's played like one after
that game one slip up.
So that supporting cast is critical,
but the Wolves wouldn't be ahead in a game seven right now
without Garnett taking over.
Sam Cassell's hip is severely messed up.
You don't see guys getting electrostim on the bench
that often, but he's doing his best.
Same goes for Wally Szczerbiak,
who's been decent despite
literally breaking his back a few weeks ago.
And Sprewell's been kind of shaky with six turnovers
and some open misses.
Garnett? 32 points on 23 shots, five blocks,
four steals, 21 rebounds.
20 of those boards on the defensive glass
equal the NBA playoff record.
Zoom in even closer for a microcosm
of Garnett's revolutionary excellence.
(tape whirring)
The first eight minutes
or so of this fourth quarter, the most important quarter
of his career to date were a KG masterpiece.
Here you had a seven footer running stride for stride
with Doug Christie, a guard,
then snuffing out a transition attempt with his left hand,
that's special.
Here's that same seven footer bringing the ball up
and calling the play,
basically running point with Cassell on the bench, special.
Fade away L spinning toward his offhand,
soft touch near the rim,
even with the contact, gliding through traffic
for an easy lay-in,
an honest to God ankle breaking crossover on the perimeter,
then two strides to a huge dunk, a desperate heave
of a three pointer over two people, cash.
Special, special, special.
Kevin Garnett built this lead and he protected it too.
When Webber put Ervin Johnson in the spin cycle,
there was Garnett to smash the finish.
In that exchange
and in the effectiveness of that Garnett crossover
and in the way Webber's been moving the last few minutes,
(tape whirring)
you get a taste for the contrast that makes
this moment feel even heavier.
(tape whirring)
Most of that stuff we just saw KG do,
the astounding combination of finesse
and force for a man his size, Webber once had it.
Remember he was KG's inspiration.
So what changed?
When Webber got traded to Sacramento in 1998,
he had no reason to expect excellence.
The Kings were a small market, mediocre team.
They hadn't won a single playoff series since relocating
to Sacramento in the mid eighties.
Webber considered just ghosting his new employer.
When he finally did get on the plane to California,
he spent the flight crying.
He has called it the worst time in his life.
Well, it got better.
Sacramento turned out to be the best place for Chris.
He got the support KG lacked for so long.
Here in Sacto he's been coached by Rick Adelman,
who built his free flowing,
fast-paced offense on Webber's brilliance,
buckets and boards, gorgeous passes out of the high post,
sweet touch, sassy stuffs, big plays, big numbers,
regular selections to All Star and All NBA teams.
Garnett has become the superior player, sure,
but we can agree that the resume of the man
to whom he owes inspiration
doesn't rank that far behind him.
And Webber owes Garnett something too.
When Chris became a free agent in 2001,
he eventually accepted a big new extension with Sacramento.
And you can be certain Garnett's record salary set the bar
high for Webber's agent,
$123 million over seven years made Chris a very close second
to his friend and rival.
And in this case,
the King's investment quickly paid off in the form
of deep playoff runs because Webber had a squad.
Peja Stojakovic, a rookie when Webber arrived,
developed into a superstar among the best shooters on earth.
Mike Bibby isn't as flashy
as Webber's original Sacramento setup man, Jason Williams,
but he's even more productive.
Bibby is as much of a scoring threat on any given night
as C. Webb or Peja.
Vlade Divac has been Webber's older, scruffier,
equally crafty front court mate for this whole stint.
And the supporting cast has gotten better and better.
Doug Christie and Bobby Jackson, Kings since 2000,
solidified some of the best and most entertaining lineups
in the league.
Brad Miller arrived recently,
bringing All Star front court depth and another body
to throw at Shaq whenever it's time to face the Lakers.
Oh, about that.
So Webber's Kings ascended, routinely capturing one
of the topmost playoff seeds
in this brutal Western conference,
routinely making real runs toward the finals,
but they never ran all the way.
Webber's Kings kept nearing the finish line only
to trip in the elimination games.
They got really close to beating those mighty Lakers only
to falter miserably like the perfect storm of heartbreak
and ref weirdness that made 2002 truly haunting.
Here is all that recent history in one place.
Meanwhile, Webber's personal history overlaps
with the above unfavorably.
You can look at nearly any of these elimination games
and find that Webber wasn't his best, didn't come
through in the clutch moments.
This is understandably a bit of a sore point
given how Webber's college career ended.
But in the last game seven Sacramento played
and lost, 2003 against the Mavericks,
Webber was absent. Late in game two with defeat
a foregone conclusion--
--n the game, but definitely not that series--
Webber planted his foot to catch a lob from Bibby
and never left the floor.
A devastating knee injury cost Webber not only the rest
of that O3 series, but most of this 03-04 season,
plus a bunch more games lost to suspension.
Without Webber, the Kings were basically
as good as usual, just different.
Bibby had his best season.
Peja has been a borderline MVP as the crux of the offense.
New look, same great taste.
Alas Webber's long awaited return didn't add spice,
it kind of soured things.
C. Webb played decently in his first few games back,
but looked shaky enough that the Kings actually sat him
for a game, even though he said he felt fine.
When he returned with a stinker--
--and a two for 21 outing really does stink--
Webber got booed by the same home fans
who once begged him to stay.
Each forced shot, each slow defensive rotation,
each missed box out drew more ire from fans
and Webber felt something worse than betrayed
by it, truly hurt.
It was a grim close to the regular season,
but the playoffs are a great opportunity
to rewrite a narrative very fast.
Did Webber do that in a first round rematch
against the Mavs?
Not entirely, he got pretty soundly outplayed
by young Dirk Nowitzki.
At least the Kings got revenge with a win.
Has Webber done it in six games, 47 minutes,
and 58 seconds against the Wolves?
No, not entirely.
Listen, you try battling KG coming off knee surgery
and especially after tacking on a calf strain
from game five.
This just isn't the Chris Webber we're used to.
Tonight, he's been most successful when he accepts that.
Just pick, pop and bury the standstill jumper.
Stuff like this doesn't work the way it used to.
You can see the plan,
Webber just doesn't have the juice to finish.
Webber used to flush from this position,
but here he was smoking a point blank layup
in the final minute.
This last Kings sequence began with 16 seconds on the clock.
And in that play, Coach Adelman had Webber screening
and screening and screening.
He wasn't the guy taking the shot.
(tape whirring)
But that's all the past.
This is right now, right now it has to be three points.
With Anthony Peeler suspended
and with Peja Stojakovic blanketed by Trenton Hassell,
Chris will be asked to find these three points.
The Kings have a longstanding elimination game problem,
a longstanding Lakers problem, Webber factors into both.
This moment represents one last shot
at fixing the first problem
and hopefully earning another chance
at fixing the second problem.
The Wolves had a first round problem seven years in a row.
They are one stop away from advancing to the third round
of this postseason, building upon the MVP year
and masterpiece postseason of Kevin Garnett, who is running
to contest the role model of his youth.
All that narrative comes down to one shot.
Welcome to a moment in history.
(audience cheers)
- [Announcer] Webber for the tie.
(buzzer sounds) (audience cheers)
And the Minnesota Timberwolves
have won the Western Conference Finals.
(audience cheers)
(TV powering off)
(soft music)