“It was one of the weirdest, saddest games I’ve ever been a part of,” said seasoned Steve Kerr, 60, a multiple NBA champion as a player and coach. “You could feel a somber atmosphere. You could tell the players on their team were suffering from everything that has happened, from what the city has been through. It was a very sad night.”
The coach was referring to the 111-85 victory of his Golden State Warriors over the Minnesota Timberwolves, in Minneapolis, in the state of Minnesota, in the North American Basketball League, on Sunday (25). The duel was initially scheduled for the day before and had to be postponed after the death of Alex Pretti, 37.
The nurse was shot by federal agents sent to Minneapolis by the government of Republican Donald Trump, which instituted an aggressive immigration policy and sparked protests. On the 7th, Renée Good, a 37-year-old US citizen, was killed by an ICE (US Immigration and Customs Service) agent.
“Minnesota can’t take it anymore,” published the state’s governor, Democrat Tim Walz. “The president must end this operation. Remove the thousands of violent, untrained officers from Minnesota. Now.”
Then followed the expected exchange of accusations between Republicans and Democrats. The Department of Homeland Security said Pretti approached federal agents with a handgun drawn. The available images indicate that he had a cell phone in his hand and was just reacting.
One way or another, with the streets in turmoil, the NBA understood that it would not make sense to hold a basketball game that Saturday. It was until Sunday, but the energy at Target Center felt “strange,” as coaches from both teams described it.
Usually restrained, someone who avoids topics other than the sport itself, Timberwolves captain Chris Finch spoke in a shaky, nervous voice. “We as an organization are heartbroken. I’m proud to be here. The players feel the same way, and it’s hard to see them go through what they’re going through.”
Journalist Jon Krawczynski, who has covered Wolves’ daily life for over 20 years, pointed out that “everything was different”. Even Draymond Green, the Warriors wing historically hated in Minneapolis, was only timidly booed.
“Everyone came to Target looking for some sense of normalcy, of community, of stability, as the frozen ground shook beneath their feet,” he wrote on The Athletic website, mentioning the blizzards and sub-zero temperatures. “But the juxtaposition of normal and abnormal was overwhelming.”
The game was held with chants and signs against ICE. There was a minute of silence in honor of Alex Pretti. Minnesota’s athletes seemed unfocused – there were 25 wasted balls, well above the team average, 14.4 –, and the public didn’t know how to react to the mistakes.
The Timberwolves published a joint statement with other Minneapolis teams (Lynx, from women’s basketball, Vikings, from American football, Twins, from baseball, and United, from football), calling for a “de-escalation of tensions”. The NBPA, the NBA players’ association, released a statement in “solidarity with the people of Minnesota protesting and risking their lives to demand justice.”
Athletes also spoke out individually, such as Tyrese Haliburton, 25. The point guard, a great figure for the Indiana Pacers who advanced to Game 7 of last season’s final (they lost 4-3 to the Oklahoma City Thunder), published: “Alex Pretti was murdered.”
The NBA management is monitoring the situation and remembers the impasse that occurred in 2020, when players interrupted the playoffs in protest against the death of George Floyd, a black man murdered by police officers in the city of Minneapolis. On that occasion, they agreed to return to the court with messages such as “black lives matter”.
This time, for now, there is no stoppage on the horizon, but matches of different types are being held in Minneapolis under a “gloomy atmosphere”. Like Sunday’s Wolves x Warriors, as Krawczynski highlighted: “It felt like a gathering of people who, collectively, needed a break from everything else.”
