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Larry O’Brien Legends, Part 11: The Big Ticket and Big Balls

Despite a disappointing season, the Minnesota Timberwolves are undeniably in their best era. It’s the first time ever they have won a playoff series in 3 straight seasons and they have made more conference finals in the last 3 years than they did in the 34 seasons before. I believe it is worth revisiting the 1 season it happened. In 1995, the Timberwolves made their best draft pick in franchise history when they selected Kevin Garnett 5th overall. After a promising rookie season, Garnett quickly established himself as a young star before ascending to superstar in the 2000s. His insane intensity, prodigious defensive IQ and deep toolbox turned him into a nightmare on both ends of the floor. Sadly, because the Timberwolves were poorly ran, they struggled to build a team around KG, until 2004. They finished with 58 wins in the regular season, a franchise record to this day and the 2nd best record in the 03-04 season. Of course the biggest part of that was KG himself. The future Hall-of-Famer averaged career highs in points and rebounds while remaining a top tier defender. However, it was the supporting cast that helped the team finally ascend and it all happened thanks to 2 trades to acquire veteran Sam Cassell and the erratic Latrel Sprewell. Garnett, Cassell and Sprewell formed a formidable trio. Them along with shooting from Wally Szczerbiak and Fred Hoiburg and defense from Micheal Olowokandi made the Timberwolves a real threat. Now it was time to prove it. In the first round, the 1st seed Timberwolves faced rookie Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets. The Wolves chewed them up, spit them out and beat them in 5. Carmelo had averaged 21 points per game in the regular season and the Timberwolves held him to 15 on horrific 32% shooting. Nevertheless, this series included a 40-piece from Sam Cassell to win game 1 and a 31-point game from Sprewell to win game 2 while KG averaged 26 points and 16 rebounds throughout the series. The trio was locked in. In round 2, the Wolves met the Sacramento Kings. Forget their reputation today, back then they were one of the very best teams, often thought of as the cream of the crop in the West alongside the Lakers and Spurs. They boasted a loaded starting lineup that included Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic and the man that made it all work, Chris Webber. Garnett would be tasked with shutting down Webber. Sam Cassell put up another 40-point game in game 1 of this series, but the Kings managed to overcome it and steal a 1-0 lead. The Wolves would come back and get game 2 behind Garnett’s 28 points. After a hard-fought series, it all came down to game 7. Heading into the 4th quarter of that game, the Wolves clung to a 2-point lead thanks to a Sam Cassell 3. After a few minutes, the Big Ticket took over. He proceeded to score Minnesota’s next 13 points. It culminated with a 3-pointer to put Minnesota up 7 and then a block on Webber to keep that lead. It came down to the last possession. Kings had the ball, down 3. Garnett blocked Brad Miller’s layup attempt and Webber missed a 3 to clinch Minnesota’s first conference finals appearance. KG finished game 7 with 32 points, 21 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 steals in a legendary performance. He is 1 of just 7 players to ever have a 30-20 game in a game 7 and the only one to do it in the 21st century. In the conference finals, the Wolves ran into the Kobe-Shaq Lakers. This was the infamous Kobe-Shaq-Mailman-Gary Payton super team. The Wolves were obviously the underdogs, but they presented a real challenge. After losing game 1, Minnesota won game 2, but at the cost of Sam Cassell. He hurt his hip literally 43 seconds in. Miraculously he played game 3, but was MIA for the rest of the series. It was a crushing blow for a team that relied on him to be the 2nd best player beside KG. KG did his part and averaged 24, 14 and 4 in the series, which included a brilliant 30-point outing in game 5 to keep his team’s chances alive. But the Wolves ultimately lost in 6 games. At the time, KG’s 2004 playoff run had the most points, rebounds, assists and blocks of any Timberwolf ever. Only the points and assists have been surpassed since, by Anthony Edwards in 2024. It wasn’t just KG setting records. Sam Cassell became the 26th player in NBA history to put up multiple 40-point games in the same playoff run… yes really. Even better, Sam Cassell’s 2004 playoff run alone gave him more 40-point games in the playoffs than the following current and future Hall-of-Famers: James Worthy, Dr. J, David Robinson, Klay Thompson, Paul George and Demar DeRozan Although this era didn’t last long, Minnesota can finally say they have a better era of Timberwolves basketball and they can look back on this season with rose coloured glasses as the year Kevin Garnett became a Larry O’Brien Legend and Sam Cassell solidified his Larry O’Brien legend in stone.

Timberwolves

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Larry O’Brien Legends, Part 10: Worthy of Centre Stage

Oh boy, I had a bunch of options here. The problem was finding a moment/run that isn’t talked about ad nauseum. I don’t need to regale you with the story of the 2020 Lakers or Kobe Bryant or Magic. Instead, let me tell you about the time James Worthy became Big Game James. If you know anything about NBA history, or watched Winning Time, you know about the Showtime Lakers. Magic and Kareem combined to make one of the greatest duos in NBA history as arguably the greatest point guard and centre respectively. However, don’t forget about James Worthy. Thanks to an asinine trade made by the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Lakers got the 1st overall draft pick after winning the 1982 championship and picked James Worthy. He was coming off a stellar career at North Carolina that culminated in a National Championship alongside a freshman named Michael Jordan. Unfortunately, Worthy missed the 1983 run with an injury, but quickly established himself as a playoff riser after that season. However, it would be 1988 when Worthy earned his iconic nickname. Kareem was 40-years-old so James Worthy was expected to be Magic’s #1 option during their playoff run beside leading scorer Byron Scott. The first series wouldn’t see that from Worthy, but it also didn’t need it, as the Lakers swept the Spurs with ease. Klay Thompson’s dad (Mychal Thompson) was 2nd in scoring behind Magic with Worthy being in 3rd. The Lakers met a young Karl Malone and John Stockton in round 2 and proceeded to have a hard-fought 7 game series. Worthy finished the series 2nd in scoring behind Byron Scott and helped close out the series beside Scott’s 29 points with 23 of his own, granted, on rough shooting splits (41%). It would be the last 2 series where Worthy would make the biggest impact. In the conference finals, Worthy and the Lakers met the Dallas Mavericks and their star forward Mark Aguirre. This is notable because the Lakers actually nearly traded James Worthy to the Mavericks for Aguirre, a fact that Worthy was very aware of. This information gave Worthy a chimp on his shoulder and he played like it. In another hard-fought 7-game series, James Worthy was the clear-cut #1, averaging 23, 5 and 5 on stupendous 57% shooting. This includes a legendary game 7 performance when Worthy put up 28, 7 and 7, out-duelling the man he was nearly traded for. Even with all he had done, the Finals would present his greatest challenge. The Lakers met the Bad Boys Pistons, a team that shifted from a high-scoring team of the mid-80s to become an unselfish, brutish defensive team. They ranked top 3 in both defensive rating and opponent points per game in the regular season. They had all the names you think of: Zeke, Dumars, Laimbeer and a young Dennis Rodman. The Lakers needed Worthy to perform in order to overcome this challenge. Worthy delivered, through 6 games, Worthy averaged: 20, 6 and 4, but in game 7, he played the best game of his life. Worthy put up 36, 16 and 10, the first and only triple double of his Hall of Fame career. At the time, he was just the 3rd player ever to put up a 30+ point triple double in a game 7 and only the 2nd to do it in the Finals (Jerry West did it in 1969). To this day, Worthy is the last man to pull it off. That performance gave him series averages of 22, 7 and 4, thus he was rewarded with Finals MVP. The Lakers made it back to the Finals 2 more times, 89 against the Bad Boys and 91 against Jordan’s Bulls, only to get crushed in both series. If not for Worthy’s legendary performance in 88, the Showtime Lakers have 1 less ring. That makes him worthy of being a Larry O’Brien Legend.

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Larry O’Brien Legends, Part 9: FO FO FO

I’m gonna be honest, the 76ers didn’t have many good options (sorry Zach). I didn’t want to talk about 2001 because we had a Throwback Thursday on that run so I shifted to the 76ers upsetting the 2012 Bulls, but that mainly happened because Derrick Rose got hurt. I didn’t want to go too far back (sorry Wilt) so I went with the obvious one. The 1980 and 1982 76ers witnessed their seasons end in heartbreaking fashion: a loss in the Finals to the LA Lakers in 6 games. Of course in 1980 they got their doors blown off by Kareem before witnessing Magic’s ascension in game 6. Nevertheless, 1982 may have been even worse as the 76ers once again lost to the Kareem-Magic Lakers. Dr. J was still great, but not getting any younger and the 1982 Lakers had just won the first overall pick and selected James Worthy. The 76ers knew they had to make a move if they were gonna beat the Lakers and so they did. On September 15th, 1982, the 76ers swung a trade for 2-time MVP and reigning rebound-leader, Moses Malone. The hope was that, along with giving the 76ers another superstar, it would give Philly someone to throw at Kareem. The move worked like a charm as Moses went on to win the 3rd MVP of his career while leading the league in rebounds, finishing top 5 in scoring and helping the 76ers finish with 65 wins. Not only the best record by a wide margin, but also the 2nd best record in their franchise’s history (only trailing the 68 wins in 1967). With the best record in the NBA and their division, Philadelphia earned a bye from the first round, leading to reporters asking Moses Malone what he expected Philadelphia to do in the playoffs. His answer: “FO FO FO” Translation: four wins, four wins and four wins. It was up to Moses to prove it. In Philadelphia’s first series, they faced the New York Knicks. New York didn’t make it too easy as the 76ers didn’t win a game by more than 10, but Philadelphia still swept them as Moses averaged 31 and 16 in the 4-game series. In the conference finals, Philadelphia met the Milwaukee Bucks who had just swept the Boston Celtics. They were led by the eternally underrated duo of Sidney Moncrief and Marques Johnson. The 76ers didn’t take them lightly. They won the first 3 games only for the Bucks to steal game 4. Although, it didn’t matter. Philly won game 5 and the series. Moses had his weakest part of the run, but still grabbed a ton of boards and Andrew Toney made up the scoring. In the Finals, the 76ers once again met the Lakers. This was the exact scenario Moses was brought in for, matching up with Kareem. Yes, Kareem was 35, but he’s still Kareem with MVP votes and 2nd team all-NBA (behind Moses of course). This series would ultimately dictate Moses’s legacy in Philadelphia. The 76ers proceeded to not just win, but dominate the defending champs. Kareem held his own, putting up 23 points and 8 rebounds per game, basically the same as his regular season averages. Meanwhile, Moses Malone averaged 26 and 18(!). Moses had nearly as many offensive rebounds as Kareem had total rebounds. It was clear who owned the paint in this series and the 76ers swept the Lakers. Moses Malone was named Finals MVP. While it wasn’t exactly as Moses predicted, it was still “FO FI FO” which was later inscribed on their championship rings. Moses, of course, led the playoffs in rebounds and was 2nd in points behind Kareem. Because the 76ers were so dominant and their run was so short, Moses’s totals don’t rank super high on all-time lists, but his average of 15.8 rebounds per game is the 2nd most of any run (since the merger) that lasted as long as his (13 games). It only trails Ben Wallace in 2003. His 5.4 offensive rebounds per game rank 3rd all-time, only behind Shaq in 2001 and Moses himself in 1981. Dr. J and the 76ers were so close to glory for 6 straight years, but it took a large man named Moses to part the Red Sea and finally take Philly over the hump. Although this team never made it back to the Finals thanks to Larry Bird, Sidney Moncrief and age, they had 1983, the year Dr. J and Moses Malone finally became Larry O’Brien Legends.

@FlameRaptorRaven

Larry O’Brien Legends, Part 8: Mr. VanVleet is his Dad’s Name

As I’m sure you can imagine, I had a lot of options in mind for the Raptors. Could’ve gone the easy route with Kawhi, the eternally underrated 2020 Raptors or even gone back to the Vince Carter Raptors (sorry Bosh). I do want to stay in 2019, but focus on a storyline that I think people have forgotten. The 2019 Raptors have seemingly become the gold standard of ‘THAT GUY played on that team?!’ conversations. It seems like every non-veteran from that team is doing great things with a new team. OG just became a Knicks legend, Siakam was the 2nd best player on the 2025 Pacers, Norman Powell became an all-star and finally, our main character, Fred VanVleet became a $100M player with the Rockets. VanVleet was an undrafted prospect out of Wichita State, but quickly established himself as a valuable contributor for the Raptors. On the Raptors’ iconic Bench Mob of 2018, VanVleet may have been the most important member. He was a finalist for 6th man of the year award, ultimately finishing 3rd despite averaging just 9 points per game. His combination of shooting, playmaking and defence made him a vital cog in the Raptors’ machine. When the Kawhi trade happened, everyone said the Raptors would only have him for 1 year, if he played at all. This put a ton of pressure on the entire Raptors squad, especially the younger players. They better be ready or risk being responsible for blowing the all-in push. Fortunately, everyone stepped up to the challenge, including VanVleet. With 7 extra minutes, he stepped up his scoring to 11 points per game while retaining his great playmaking and defense with only a slight drop in efficiency. VanVleet was never gonna start with Kyle Lowry healthy, but his role in ensuring the bench guys didn’t miss a step was vital. Come playoff time though and he felt off a cliff. Through the first 2 rounds, Fred VanVleet was averaging 4.2 points per game on horrific 28% shooting, including 20% from 3. He didn’t score more than 5 points in any game of Toronto’s 2nd round series against Philly. He was looking like a massive disappointment, until something happened. On May 20th, 2019, Fred VanVleet’s first son (2nd child) Fred VanVleet Jr. was born. Prior to attending the birth, Fred had played 3 games in the conference finals against Milwaukee and continued struggling. He averaged 3.3 points per game on 20% shooting and 18% from 3. He returned to the Raptors for game 4 and something clicked. Whether the birth of his son inspired him to step up his game or stepping away from the game cleared his mind, Fred VanVleet became a new man. From game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals to Game 6 of the NBA finals, he averaged 15 points per game on 51% shooting from the field and 53% from 3. In game 5 against Milwaukee, VanVleet set a career high (at the time) in 3s with 7 as he helped the Raptors take down Milwaukee and later Golden State to win the Finals. As if that wasn’t good enough, he hit THE 3-pointer to give Toronto the lead late in game 6 against the Warriors that ultimately won the championship. He went from someone potentially holding back the Raptors, to being one of the key performers down the stretch after his son was born. I’m sure there are other reasons why VanVleet turned it around, but the numbers sync up too perfectly to ignore his son’s birth as a reason why. VanVleet even said as much after game 4 against Milwaukee. Regardless of its actual impact, Fred VanVleet Sr. and Jr. became Larry O’Brien Legends forever in the summer of 2019.