@zach

Mike Conley To Become 14th Player to Reach 20 Seasons

Agreeing to a one-year deal with the Boston Celtics today gets Conley over the two decades mark in his NBA career. Alongside Al Horford, Conley will reach 20 seasons in this upcoming NBA season. The two veterans join 12 other players in NBA history to match or exceed their mark. They will match Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Jamal Crawford, Udonis Haslem, and Kyle Lowry with exactly 20 seasons played in the fall. Robert Parish, Kevin Willis, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, and Chris Paul all played 21 seasons, and Vince Carter reached 22. But the all-time leader in seasons played will be entering his 24th later this year. Of course, LeBron James holds yet another record.

Celtics

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Larry O’Brien Legends, Part 7: The 2nd Greatest Comeback

At the risk of sounding like Bill Simmons, there were MANY options to pick from in Celtics history. However, in light of a certain recent event, I thought it would be fun to reminisce on a legendary Finals comeback. If you’ve been following the NBA for more than a year, you know the story of the 2008 Celtics. For those that don’t, here is the summary: The Celtics had gone from decent to horrible in the years since their conference finals appearance in 2002. After the 06-07 season, Paul Pierce was very frustrated, so general manager Danny Ainge executed arguably the best offseason in NBA history. He traded for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett while retaining promising youngsters like Rajon Rondo and Tony Allen. The Celtics went from 24 wins to 66, the largest single season turnaround in NBA history. In the playoffs, the Celtics ran into their fair share of hurdles. The 37-win Hawks and LeBron carry-job Cavs both took the Celtics to 7 games in rounds 1 and 2 respectively. Boston then met the paragons of East dominance in the Detroit Pistons and beat them in 6, making it to the Finals. For the Celtics Big 3, their head coach Doc Rivers, and 90% of their teammates, it was their first ever finals appearance. This was a veteran team, but one that didn’t have much experience on this stage. The team they went on to face was far from lacking in that department. The LA Lakers had finally made it back to the Finals. Kobe Bryant was leading the way, coming off his first and only MVP alongside the return of head coach Phil Jackson. For context, the duo of Kobe and Phil had played/coached in more finals games than Garnett had in the playoffs entirely before arriving to Boston. The Celtics were the better team on paper, but there was some that believed that LA could use their experience to win this series. Boston managed to win both games 1 and 2 at home, but the Lakers counter punched with a win in game 3 thanks to a masterful 36-point performance from Kobe, which set us up for a game 4 that could shift the balance of power either way. The 1st quarter was just about as bad as it possibly could’ve been for Boston. The Lakers were up 35-14 after 12 minutes. To make matters worse, the Lakers continued the beat down in the 2nd. They built up a 24-point lead (45-21) with less than 5 minutes to go in the quarter. The Celtics did finish the half strong with a 19-10 run, only for Jordan Farmar to hit a last second 3 to give LA an 18-point lead at halftime (58-40). The Celtics started the 2nd half well with an 8-2 run, only for the Lakers to build their lead back up to 20 (68-48) with 7 minutes to go in the 3rd. Doc Rivers then called a timeout. I do not know what he said, but whatever it was, it’s the best idea he’s ever had because the Celtics went on a 23-5 run to end the quarter and cut the deficit to just 2 points (73-71). There was still a quarter to go and Boston made sure their incredible comeback wasn’t for nothing. After a tight 8 minutes, the Celtics finally took their first lead of the game with just 4 minutes remaining, never gave it up and completed, at the time, the greatest single-game comeback in NBA finals history to put themselves up 3-1 in the series. That game basically won them the championship. LA did manage to steal game 5, only to get OBLITERATED in game 6 by 39 points as the Celtics claimed their 17th championship. Paul Pierce, the same frustrated star in 2007, was named Finals MVP. It’s hard to pick an MVP of the comeback as it was truly a team effort. Each member of the big 3 put up 10+ points in the 2nd half while James Posey and Eddie House provided valuable 3-point shooting to add an extra punch. However, I’d pick Paul Pierce who led the way in both scoring and assists (14 and 5). This Big 3 Celtics never won another championship and are sadly remembered more for massively overrating themselves in every TV segment and podcast any of them are on. Ironically, I’ve never heard any of them brag about this, so of course the basketball gods punished them by letting the Knicks have the new greatest comeback in Finals history. Still, during that game and this season, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and most shocking of all, Doc Rivers, became Larry O’Brien Legends.

@noahd

Did you know that the Celtics have the most titles in NBA history

Did you know that the Celtics have the most titles in NBA history.

@FlameRaptorRaven

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.