Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen to the NBA Finals on NBC.  I’m Marv Albert and joining me in the booth are Doug Collins and Isaiah Thomas. For those of you just tuning in, you couldn’t have picked a better time.  It’s moments like these that give us reason to watch sports.  That’s right folks, it’s Game 7 of the 1998 NBA Finals!

[ad2] There’s 7.4 seconds left on the clock, and the Chicago Bulls lead the Minnesota Timberwolves 100-99.  Michael Jordan just shocked this United Center crowd by missing a three-pointer that would’ve put a dagger through the heart of this young Minnesota squad.  The Timberwolves have the basketball, and coach Flip Saunders is going through his potential championship-winning play in the huddle.  You just couldn’t ask for a better set up, could you Doug.

No you can’t Marv.  On one side, you have the Chicago Bulls going for their second string of three championships in a row, and on the other side you have the up and coming Timberwolves with their young duo of Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury.  Going into this series, nobody was giving these Wolves a chance. But they’ve managed to hang tough, pull out a couple of close wins, and now they’ve found themselves in a situation that everybody dreams about.  It’s Game 7, the ball is in their hands, and they need one basket to bring their franchise its first title.  We might just be about to witness a Cinderella story in the making, Marv. 

And what a story that would be.  A franchise that only a few years ago was in jeopardy of being uprooted and moved out of Minnesota is now a basket away from the championship.  I don’t think anyone envisioned this moment when the Timberwolves selected Kevin Garnett straight out of highschool.

I think Flip Saunders and Kevin McHale did, Marv.  They’ve done a wonderful job in Minnesota by pairing up Kevin Garnett and Stephon Marbury.  They’re a match made in heaven.  And never was that more evident than when these two rising stars went into Utah and took down Karl Malone and John Stockton in the Conference Finals, effectively becoming the premiere 1-2 combo out West. 

That certainly was an incredible series, Doug.  And now with 7.4 left on the clock and the Wolves huddle breaking up, Garnett and Marbury will try to dethrone yet another dynamic duo in Jordan and Pippen.  But before we go to the call, what are your thoughts, Isaiah?

Well Marv, what can I say?  That Stephon Marbury is a fine player, indeed.  I mean, if I were a General Manager, I wouldn’t hesistate one second to trade every asset I had to get him.  Draft picks, salary cap – those are all an afterthought when you can get a player of Stephon’s caliber. 

Well he certainly is a talented individual, Isaiah.  The Timberwolves are now taking the court and this United Center crowd is noticeably restless.

They sure are, Marv.  The city of Chicago has known almost nothing but championships for several years now, but we might be about to witness a changing of the guard.

Not if Michael Jordan has anything to say about it.  He has a look of sheer determination as he leads his teammates onto the floor. Anthony Peeler will inbound.  The Wolves have Marbury, Garnett, Mitchell, and Parks on the floor.  The Bulls are countering with Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Kerr, and Kukoc.  Peeler has the ball. He inbounds it to Marbury who is swarmed by Jordan. Stephon kicks it out to Garnett in the corner!  He’s double teamed by Rodman and Kukoc!  Three to shoot!  Garnett spins, releases, and… YES! IT’S GOOD!  IT’S GOOD!  LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I DON’T BELIEVE WHAT I JUST SAW!  KEVIN GARNETT AND THE MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES HAVE JUST DETHRONED THE CHIGAGO BULLS, 101-100! LOOK OUT WORLD, YOU’VE GOT A NEW GENERATION OF CHAMPIONS!

This is one of those game you’ll tell your grandkids about, Marv!  With one shot, Kevin Garnett just cemented his place in NBA history and made himself a legend up North. 

Don’t forget Marbury’s sweet pass, Doug.  Somebody should give that kid a max contract!

Well, Isaiah, he certainly came up big with Jordan all over him. 

Well, thanks for tuning in ladies and gentlemen and sharing with us a night that will be remembered for years to come.  I’m Marv Albert, and on behalf of my colleagues Doug Collins and Isaiah Thomas, I’d like to wish you all a good night and congratulate our new NBA Champions, The Minnesota Timberwolves!

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Ok, so the 1997-1998 Minnesota Timberwolves may have actually gotten bounced out of the first round by the Sonics.  But they also managed to win the NBA title about fifteen times in my driveway.  What can I say? When I pretended to be Kevin Garnett, I was money from the corner.  And even when I drew iron, Stephon Marbury was always there for the last second putback!

This article was written for a contest run by produnkhoops.com.  To enter, I had to write an article about driveway basketball.  And when I think about shooting hoops in my driveway, nothing sticks out more to me than those times when, just for a moment, all my basketball dreams would come true.  All of a sudden, I wasn’t in my front yard, but in front of 30,000 screaming fans.  And I was leading my Timberwolves on their way to the title. 

Not everyone can be Kevin Garnett.  But thanks to driveway basketball, everyone can feel the joy of hitting a championship winning shot.  So if your driveway is looking a little bare, maybe you should check out produnkhoops.com’s selection of basketball goals.  And while you’re there, be sure to vote for TWolvesBlog.com in the basketball blogging contest!

Alright, enough of the shameless plugs.  You can now proceed to your regularly scheduled Timberwolves coverage!

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