I think a big part of the Minnesota fanbase's connection to Naz Reid is about the many Naz Reid's of Timberwolves past that never became anything.
If you actually decided to spend/waste time on the Wolves from 2008 to 2018, what fueled that experience was watching obscure players and, perhaps naively, thinking they could become so much more than they were reasonably expected to become.
(Anthony Randolph and Alexey Shved were two of mine.)
Naz Reid, who went undrafted in 2019, was the first obscure Wolves player to actually hit. And I think that's why -- especially the people who were watching those games for that dark decade -- fell in love with Reid.
Rockets led by 13 in OVERTIME and the Wolves scored 15 in a row. There are bodies and blood everywhere. Sengun’s lip is ripped off his body. Scott Foster Montreal Screwjobbed Naz Reid out of the game. Rudy Gobert blocked a KD jumper with the game on the line after being broken off. Rockets were 23/23 from the line and KD MISSED DOWN TWO 3 SECONDS LEFT. THEY SOMEHOW GOT THE BALL BACK. NO GOOD. THEY BLEW IT AGAIN. BUT THEY DIDNT BLOW IT BECAUSE THEY WERE DOWN DOUBLE DIGITS LATE. Adam Silver this is for youuuu
Incredible game. The Braun step back 3. The Battle baseline jumper. Cold blooded.
And my 11 yo daughter got to see a full house lose its mind for women’s hoops. Awesome.
10 YEARS OF DVP, THE SONG THAT PUT THE SHITTIEST HIGHWAY IN TORONTO ON THE MAP
Crazy to think, Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux made this video alone in his bedroom in one weekend and it racked up over 4 million views. EVERYONE TELL JEREMY HOW MUCH YOU LOVE HIM PLEASE