Because I'm a pretty small girl, I'm used to being sandwiched between people in media scrums while I stand on tip-toe, arm outstretched in a quest to get a good quote or two. Last night, I was in what is guaranteed to be one of the most entertaining scrums I will see in awhile.
As Kevin Garnett speaks with media postgame, he's intense. Of course. He was born with a scowl on. He's also got on his personal uniform of a sweater, scarf, dress shirt and tie. As well as the diamond that is larger than my thumbnail, shining in his left ear.
He is looking down as he answers questions.
Because he is looking down, I try to sneak my arm in a little further to capture the action and as I shift, I feel the person behind me doing the same. Holding his Blackberry into the scrum (and also, inches from my face), I notice that not only is he filming KG, he's got one huge set of paws for a beat writer.
I assume its Marc Spears, writer for the Boston Globe because he's as tall a writer as I've seen, but as my eyes scan the room I notice Marc on the other side of Garnett.
Looking to the left of me, I do a double take. I realize it's Ray Allen to my immediate left in the scrum, also filming KG with his phone. As I look at the grey suit with the lavender and pale-yellow pinstripes that the hand in front of me is attached to, I realize that the man filming KG, leaning over me to get a better photo is none other than reigning Finals MVP Paul Pierce.
I'm in an NBA champion sandwich.
Before I have a minute to think about the hilarity that is these two posing as media and filming their guy, Pierce says, "Could you speak up a bit, Kevin?"
As soon as KG realizes that it's his teammates in the huddle, a smile breaks out on his face as he says, "Get your ass out of here, Paul, you're crazy!"
By now, Sam Cassell has also joined in on the fun and the three are joking, saying they will be posting KG's face up on Facebook and then Youtube.
It's great to see a team where the guys like to have some fun and genuinely just enjoy each others company.
KG had a handful of quotes that stuck out to me. The first, “It’s always good to win but we know we’re better than what we’re playing," Garnett says, echoing Doc Rivers comments postgame and shows that win or lose, these guys are all locked in and on the same page. The end goal is clear, championship or bust.
He continues to say, "We’re a team of confidence, man. We’re not the bully team. We’re not the intimidating team. We’re just a team that plays hard and goes out and tries to make each other better every night."
When I'm watching the games from home I'd shrug at this quote, but seeing KG's focus - even postgame - then thinking about he and the rest of the team pregame, not noticing or giving pause to anything or anyone besides each other, and I can't help but believe him. The Celtics are as intimidating as you allow them to be. In each of their respective minds, they are the champions who are going to go out and win another ring, the other teams just represent obstacles that they need to take down one at a time.
Before the scrums had started, Cassell kept us all entertained as he actively tried recruiting his teammates to be Baltimore Ravens fans and then had a complete conversation with KG that was riddled with mfers, conducted through yelling and screams as Garnett was still in the shower and Cassell was on the other side of the locker room.
Just as he had the previous time the Celtics were in Toronto this season, Cassell opted to brush his teeth at his locker rather than in the shower/washroom area of the arena.
He also jokingly gave Leon Powe (who was eagerly digging into some post-game food that the writers were salivating over), a hard time about something he wanted to break down for him, before getting serious and saying he'd go over it with him on the bus.
One laugh-out-loud moment for me came when Cassell lamented aloud about the cologne that he lost while going through customs. The best part is realizing that this guy who is smiling, laughing and bouncing around the locker room is 39 years old. For these guys who make millions and millions to play the game of basketball (or to sit on the bench), Sam has got it right.
What reason does he have NOT to be loving life and on top of the world?
If you need a visual to represent the term "lean", picture Rajon Rondo's sharp, angular face and body that appears to have been sculpted with the purpose of explaining muscular anatomy to a biology class. The guy is tiny, with skin stretched over muscle and bone, not an ounce of fat to be had. As he's sitting at his locker requesting lotion from one of his teammates, I watch him wince painfully as he stretches his legs out.
In the scrum a few minutes later, he explains that he hurt his leg while diving to save a ball and crashing into some chairs. When he is asked which leg, he says both, but follows that up with saying he doubts it will be a problem for the game that will be played in Boston this evening.
Seeing the interlocking "RR" tattoo that takes up the majority of his back , all I can think of is
Rookie Rankings, a weekly column over at NBA.com.
When Paul did come out of the showers he was asked about the strong performance from Ray Allen (who finished with 36 points on 14 shots, while connecting on eight-of-10 three-pointers), Paul says, “When you see a player having a good night like that it’s our duty as other players to try and get him the ball."
Remember, selflessness = Ubuntu.
While waiting on Pierce to come out of the showers, I overhear Brian Scalabrine (public enemy No. 1 in Toronto yesterday), talking with a beat writer from Boston who says he opted to make the trip to Toronto on a bus rather than by plane. Scalabrine thinks this is a fantastic idea and asks how full the bus was, if he spoke to any of his fellow travelers and then says he thinks that would be fun to do sometime.
The contrast between the silent, intense, and yes, intimidating group of guys that take over the locker room pregame and this group of men, this band of brothers who are easy, open and engaging is something to be experienced. These guys are funny.
Still, the players are nowhere near as entertaining as their head coach. He's in a league of his own.
While postgame was reserved mostly for comments about the game, he threw in this zinger about the "tough guys" on his team and others around the league when asked about the skirmish between Brian Scalabrine (who ended up fouling out of the game), and Joey Graham, “I don’t think that was too much, honestly. I think both teams wanted to win the game... I’ve always said if the refs ran the other way, so would the players. I’ve always believed that when the refs run in there and separate them, gets everybody a lot tougher. I think the refs should just go and sit down because then you would see the players run from each other, too.”
He also spoke of the tough stretch of games between Christmas and the All-Star break, saying it can be tough to keep your team focused on the end goal.
Pregame, it was the Doc Rivers comedy scrum as he fielded questions on John Smoltz signing with the Red Sox, saying that while he offered him his apartment, he said he could wait until after the season since he had no interest in living with him.
Another solid Doc moment was when he said that while the team wins together it also loses together. This was in response to a writer who asked if the team struggles and goes, as Rondo does.
He then rivaled Kevin Garnett for quote of the day as he continued, addressing the question of whether or not pressure has been getting to Rondo and causing him to struggle (which he turned around in the game yesterday, finishing with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 11 assists) by simply saying, "Pressure is people losing their jobs like they are right now in the real world. That is real pressure.”
Perfectly said Coach. Thanks for bringing some perspective.
In only two encounters with him, both times he has captured his audience of media and had us laughing then leaning forward, hanging on his every word. It's easy to see how he got his team, led by those three superstars to buy in to his philosophy. There is just respect. Mutual respect. I'd be confident in guessing that Doc lives by the "you get what you give" way of thinking.
As he walks through the locker room postgame to get to the bus, Cassell stops him to say, "Doc, you sweet, you sweet."
Life is sweet for these Celtics when they win.