REPORTING FROM ... A TITLE CELEBRATION

Getty Images

Jam had company cheering on the Celts.

BOSTON — I caught up with Jimmy Jam after last night's game, and he was as excited as the champs. Jam, who is a good friend of Kevin Garnett's and whose wife is the sister of Garnett's wife, was a fixture at Minnesota Timberwolves games during Garnett's tenure there. But when Garnett was traded to Boston, he gave up his season tickets to the Wolves.

"People have asked me if this would be sweeter if KG had done it in a Timberwolves uniform,'' said Jam. "But how can it get any sweeter than to win it all as a Celtic? With all that basketball tradition, and with so many stories off the court surrounding this team—Ray's son's illness, Doc's father dying—it's just poetic that they won it on the parquet floor.''

-----

Ron Artest attended two Finals games and was hanging around outside the locker rooms after the Celtics clinched. He said seeing veterans KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce finally win a title made him think of his own quest for a ring.

"I'm definitely going to get one,'' said Artest. "If I don't get one, my whole career won't be worth anything. That's why I had to come see this game. I wanted to be in this atmosphere and see what it's like.''

Artest said he will not opt out of the last year of his contract with Sacramento and added that he will probably play for the Kings next season.

-----

Sam Cassell told me after the game that he's not done backing down and shooting over opposing point guards. While Cassell, 38, wants to be a head coach when his playing career is over, he said he'll put that on hold for one more season. I asked Sam if he'll be back with the Celtics next year.

"Hell yeah,'' he shouted above the bass drum and screaming that filled the Celtics' locker room.

"As a player or a coach,'' I asked.

"As a player.''

-----

We could easily see a Celtics-Lakers rematch next year and the year after that in the Finals. We need to remember, the Lakers were without their 20-year-old, 7-foot center Andrew Bynum, a double-double machine who was blossoming into a dominant star before injuring his knee back in January. Bynum and his personal trainer told me last week that he'll definitely be back at full strength at the start of next season, and Kobe Bryant said the big fella' will solve some of the problems the Lakers encountered against the Celtics.

"Rebounding and shot-blocking in the middle,'' said Bryant. "He solves a couple of those.''

Lamar Odom said the absence of Bynum wasn't the reason the Lakers lost the series, but he said he'll be a welcomed addition next year.

"Anytime you add someone with that type of talent you're going to be better,'' said Odom. "But we were up by 20 in Game 5 and by 24 in Game 4 and we lost that game. Was their physical play the reason we lost the 24-point lead? No. Would we have been better with him out there on the floor? Yes. But is he the reason we lost? No.''

Odom was salty after the game, not only because of the loss but because of his belief that the Lakers gave away the series.

"We lost a 24-point lead,'' he said. "We showed that we could've won all three games at home.''

Print Article . Email Article. Subscribe to The Magazine