So You Still Don't Get Kevin Garnett?

Wednesday, June 18, 2008



This is the way I see it.

It's the way I feel it.

If you can't get what Kevin Garnett was saying after he won his first championship I can't really help you - because it's a vibe thing you know?

It's raw emotion that if you can't feel it you've probably never been in a losing situation where everyone around you tells you that you can't, even though you know you could, and you eventually did.

You've probably never felt hard blacktop on your feet, dribbling the ball at midnight, going against someone who said to you "You shoot pretty good for a half breed or Oriental, or whatever you are" the look on his face saying "I can't lose to this guy because I should just be better than him."

You've probably never been pulled over by cops at the drive-thru window for no reason except that you looked out of place, because you were in a car that people just didn't think you should have, even though it was nothing special, the cops saying to you "I drive American" before they drove off, you just happy they didn't take you in.

You've probably never had to out-run a Ford Mustang and a group of guys shouting to you and your friends that you should go back to where you came from, screaming every possible racial epithet in their drunken state as you ran as fast as you could for as long as you could, getting a reprieve because of the red light and the bushes around the corner, holding your breath as the car stopped in front of you, slowly making it's way past, getting ready to run the moment you heard a car door open.

You see what I'm saying?

You probably care more about who you know, what you wear, what you drive, what names you can drop, where you live, and how many times you can tell your friends how much you gave to the cause of the day you decided to get onto so you could look like you were down, even though you don't know the first meaning of that word, and even though you don't embrace anyone who's not like you.

You probably never had to be escorted to use something as simple as a restroom because people were afraid for you because out of the blue a group of skinheads decided to show up at the venue you were at, looking you up and down - but you stayed, you stood, because you had every right to be there too.

You probably never got starred down by a cop you were filing a complaint against because he was too aggressive the night before as you made the long walk to the entrance of the station, each step forward wondering if you were doing the right thing, if it really mattered, in the end not caring if you got any justice, because it was just about doing what you thought was right.

You've probably never been beat down by white hands, blond hair, and blue eyes while you were defenseless, because you didn't know how to defend yourself. Because it was two against one. Because you didn't know it could be that way. But in the end you came back. You got it done.

You've probably never been on the side of the conversation with HR and managers telling you that you should let those racial statements go - that you should put down your head and just do your work, otherwise they'd find someone else - the last time this happens to you, unlike the other jobs and the other places where you let people like them impose their will on you, you instead imposed your will on them. You didn't get money, you didn't get newsworthy, you just got respect.

You got the respect from yourself that you wondered if you'd ever get.

See - if you didn't get Kevin Garnett and his raw emotion, letting it all hang out, making sure he gave it up to everyplace and everyone that's helped make him who he is throughout his career - to shout at the top of his lungs that anything is possible - you probably never will.