REPORTING FROM ... GAME SIX

Louise Cornetta

"Garnett just sprayed me with a can of Milwaukee's Best."

[Ed's note: Mag.Com contributor Louise Cornetta was at Game 6 of the NBA Finals last night, poking around both locker rooms before and after (hence the above pic) game time. Here's a snapshot of some Finals memories and experiences she came across.]

Sasha Vujacic, Lakers SG
I watched the movie 300 (before the game) because it's so hard to find time that isn't about basketball, though it's kind of connected to it. Everything I've been thinking for the past ten days has been about the Finals. But when we were in L.A. last week, I watched it at home by myself. The movie pumps you up. It's a great movie. You should watch it. It's like Braveheart and Blade Runner, only better.

Chris Mihm, Lakers C
When we got on the bus to come over to the arena for the first game, we had a police escort over to the arena. The Boston police department has been excellent getting us around the city quickly. But I remember the first time we got on the bus over to the arena, the excitement of all the fans. There were people running out of buildings either cheering or booing. It was a special moment. Just the energy and how amped up people were in Boston to get the series started. On the bus, everyone was ready. We had a little bit less than a week to prepare, after going pretty strong through the first three rounds. Guys were ready, anticipating getting out on the court again and getting the Finals started. It was a cool moment for me.

Leon Powe, Celtics PF
Getting to go out there on media day and hang out with the guys and just talk about what it took to get here. Just having fun with the fellas that's all. It was overwhelming. There was like a lot of media, more media than I've ever seen before. When you were out there, it just made you realize that you're in the Finals. All that hard work that you put into getting here is finally paying off. I didn't know it was going to be like that until I got to the media day and I was like, "Whoa, this is not like we had in the regular season." And someone was like, "This is the playoffs, it's a lot more." And I was like, "Oh man, we are in the Finals. We're here." The next thing you're thinking is you just want to win it after that. But really, just being here, enjoying the moment and the opportunity.

Gabe Pruitt, Celtics PG
The plane incident [the tough travel home from Los Angeles]. We needed three planes to get home… guys were playing cards and some spent time with their kids [the families flew back with them for first time this season. They flew out to L.A. separately]. I just slept. But, you know, we've been traveling together the whole year with the whole team there. This time, what really caught my eye was when Ray [Allen] wasn't there [on the plane, because his son was hospitalized, Allen took a different plane back]. That was kind of weird. We're used to having him on the plane with us. I'm going to think back and if everything goes well and we win tonight, that's probably going to be the one thing that sticks out. You know, we get to the airport and first there were the two planes that messed up then Ray having family issues, that is probably one of the things that will probably stay in my mind. To have him back and he's fine makes for a happy ending."

Glen "Big Baby" Davis, Celtics C
Reading PS I Love You. The book is better than the movie. I always like the book better, though I've heard the movie is pretty good. I got a lot of reading done on the planes, that's plural… planes, we took to get home."

Kendrick Perkins, Celtics F - Post Game
I'm enjoying the moment. I'm so happy to be a part of the championship. Everybody had one goal. Everybody wanted to win the title, nobody had different agendas and that's how I knew we were going to win. This game is always tough mentally, but I felt we wanted it too much. After the first half, we tasted the blood. I thought we came out to beat them and got it done. This means a lot to me. It really hasn't hit me yet, but I know it's going to hit me later. Right now I'm just enjoying holding this trophy."

Print Article . Email Article. Subscribe to The Magazine