As we imagined all along, we were at Target Center last night to watch Kevin Garnett clinch his first-ever NBA championship and to hear him say it was “for everybody in ‘Sota.” The strange part, perhaps, is that we were merely at NBA City, the restaurant attached to the home of the Wolves, while Garnett was thousands of miles away in Boston. That distance seemed to matter none to him nor the decidedly pro-Boston/pro-Garnett fans who came out to dine, drink and watch The Franchise win it all in that green No. 5 uniform that still looks so strange. We were watching with the RBBH and SG, former proprietor of the I Heart KG blog who is now over at TWolvesBlog. She might have been a little emotional watching KG at the end of the game — particularly so for someone who wasn’t sure who she was rooting for at the start. We’ll get to some of the game and series specifics in a minute, but we want to ask one quick question: does KG name-checking our fair state after winning a title with another team ease the pain of the trade and provide a measure of closure, or does it only make things worse for local fans? Our answer would seem to be a little bit of Columns A and B. It’s clear he left a good piece of his heart in Minnesota, and calling out the state was clearly his way of saying thanks. On the flip side, that sound bite will serve as a constant reminder of what could have been here but never was. In any event, about that series:

Biggest disappointment, Part I: Kobe Bryant. You can say he had little help in many games. We say he choked, bombed, wasn’t a leader at all and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s not in the same class as Michael Jordan. This was a legacy series for him. And his took a hit.

Biggest disappointment, Part II: Phil Jackson. The mastermind and great motivator looked disengaged and couldn’t consistently come up with strategies to either free Kobe or make Boston pay for double- and triple-teams. He was outfoxed by Doc Rivers.

Biggest disappointment, Part III: The series in general. With the exception of dominant stretches in Games 4 and 6 by the Celtics, this was some fairly putrid basketball by both teams. Nobody on the Lakers showed up consistently. It’s hard to imagine L.A. playing any worse. If Boston had not seized the moment last night, rather hung on for some unsightly 89-85 win, we would have declared this a Title by Default.

Biggest Difference: The heart and play of Paul Pierce, who had a fantastic series (Game 1 theatrics aside), rubbed off on his teammates. The heart of Kobe Bryant did not.

Strangest scene: Chants of “Beat L.A.,” and “MVP” (for KG), and some other less printable ones directed at Kobe, originating periodically from NBA City last night. KG still draws a lot of water in this town. And Kobe doesn’t draw [redacted], at least in some circles.

What’s next? NBA draft Redactular, one week from tomorrow, when the Wolves trade down and take Kevin Love. 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Invites forthcoming. If we forget you, give a shout and we’ll make sure you know all the details.

Fasola-link! The Shawshank Reunion.

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