Loving the Timberwolves When They're Good (or Bad)

"The Timberwolves type of bad, from 2005 to 2022, wasn't thrilling, and it didn't lead to some emotional revelation or bonding experience for me. It was mostly just misery-a team that wasn't good and that wasn't close to being good, a team that squandered opportunities for franchise-changing draft picks. (I am not especially hung up on this, and I do believe it was the right decision at the time, but I'm haunted by a photo of the 2009 draft board, showing the Timberwolves choosing the point guards Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn, right before the Golden State Warriors selected Stephen Curry. Rubio proved to be a solid but not great point guard. Flynn was out of the N.B.A. within three years.)"

"I have a running joke that is, like many of my running jokes, more consistent than it is funny. It began in 2011, in the early days of posting on what was then Twitter. As the N.B.A. season approached, no matter how bad the Timberwolves had been the year before and no matter how stagnant they were in the off-season, I would send out a message along the lines of, I believe the Timberwolves will be going 82-0 this season. It was a joke in that it was an absurdity, but it was also a joke in that it was an absurdity that I believed, because when there are zeros on both sides of the win-loss column you get to believe a bit in impossibilities."

"In the weeks and days before the first shot goes up, the sun shines on the spot of the large boulder that you have willingly affixed yourself to, and the boulder feels, momentarily, lighter. Until it doesn't. I don't understand people who come to sports to feel rage, or agony, or panic. At least, I don't understand those people anymore (I once was one). I have consumed the new golden era of Timberwolves basketball the past few seasons with a sense of calm that I think alarms the rest of my Wolves-fan pals."

From 2005 to 2022, Timberwolves basketball felt unthrilling and miserable, with the team failing to become good and squandering chances at franchise-changing draft picks. A lingering regret comes from a 2009 draft board photo showing the team selecting Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn just before the Warriors chose Stephen Curry. Rubio became a solid but not great point guard, while Flynn left the NBA within three years. A long-running joke began in 2011, predicting an impossible 82-0 season despite prior failures, reflecting brief belief in impossibilities. Over time, rooting shifted from rage and panic toward calm, shaped by years of watching a hopeless team and gaining perspective on sports’ simplicity.

Read at The New Yorker