“Everyone in Minnesota knows the photo,” Jefferson says, grinning. “Two superstars in the state of Minnesota; they were at the top of the league in basketball and football.”

He's right, of course, except for one thing: people far beyond Minnesota's borders know the image.

Jon Krawczynski, now a respected senior writer for the Athletic, was a 21-year-old Minnesota sports fan and aspiring journalist when the sport The cover was released in March 2000.

“One of the things that made this image so special was that Kevin Garnett and Randy Moss were not just local heroes to all sports fans in Minnesota and the surrounding region, but were extremely popular across the country,” Krawczynski recalls. “And for an area of ​​the country that's often overlooked – you know, we're constantly belittled because it's cold here; People in other parts of the country think we're just a frozen outpost and there's nothing cool here – that.” For the first time since Prince, he said, “Hey, Minnesota is cool.” “

Krawczynski called Garnett and Moss state symbols, with the latter having his third NFL season and third straight with more than 1,300 receiving yards and double-digit touchdowns. Garnett, the older of the two by a year, has already had five Timberwolves seasons under his belt, two of which he averaged a double-double per appearance.

For the first time in forever, Krawczynski noted, Minnesota was on top.

“I think it made a lot of people here incredibly proud,” he said. “It was these guys her people, and they became stars and lifted everyone on their shoulders.”

The original image was taken by the deceased Photographer Tim Mantoaniwhich not only captured the youthful energy, but also the essence – that – so perfectly Fun – from winning.

But it was Garnett's spontaneous suggestion that turned a fairly standard editorial photo shoot on its head that day:

“It was the perfect shoot to turn what would have been a cool photo into an iconic photo,” Krawczynski said. “Because what KG did (with this idea) actually turned these superhuman athletes — who run faster, jump higher, are taller, more athletic and richer — into sports fans of each other.”

“How many Minnesota sports fans had their own Moss jersey, their own Garnett jersey and wore them to games?” added Krawczynski, who wore a white 21 Wolves jersey and a purple 84 Moss jersey in his own collection. “Now when we saw that each of them was wearing the different jersey, it showed us that not only were they these great athletes, they were not only these superstar personalities, but they really were athletes too.” fans – and she did just like us.”