Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker said on Saturday that he's seen all kinds of displays of support and love from Wolves fans in his neighborhood during this playoff run.
"It means a lot," he said. "In my neighborhood, a lot of the fans have made up signs, did balloons, I came home and they had chalk on the concrete and stuff like that. So I just want to say thank you to everybody and just say I really appreciate it. When they do small gestures like that, take time out of their day — they had a sign and it was going to rain, they put a bag over the sign so it didn't get ruined. That takes time, that takes care, I definitely appreciate that."
Alexander-Walker is in his third season with Minnesota since the February 2023 trade that also brought Mike Conley to the Timberwolves. He's become a key bench player for the Wolves, appearing in all 82 games for the second straight season while providing high-level shooting and defense for Chris Finch. It might be to a slightly lesser extent than with Naz Reid, but NAW — who nearly found himself out of the league earlier in this career — is a major fan favorite in Minnesota.
What remains to be seen is whether or not that will continue beyond this season. Alexander-Walker is set to hit free agency, and the Wolves may not have room to keep him, depending on what happens with other players like Reid and Julius Randle. But all that matters right now is taking things one game at a time, with a berth in the NBA Finals on the line starting on Tuesday night.
"To everybody in my neighborhood, thank you so much," Alexander-Walker said. "To everybody in Minneapolis, thank you so much. There's (been) ups and downs, but they stuck with us. In the playoffs, when we needed that energy, they brought it, they provided it, and I'm glad we get to share that moment of going back to the conference finals with them."
Outside of an excellent Game 2 against the Warriors, it hasn't exactly been a banner postseason for Alexander-Walker, who has averaged 6.5 points while shooting just under 30 percent from deep. During the regular season, he put up 9.4 points per game and shot 38 percent from three. Perhaps in part due to his struggles, he's seen his minutes fluctuate more than usual. NAW has played fewer than 15 minutes in four of the Wolves' ten playoff games after never doing so during this regular season.
He was asked about that on Saturday and gave a very mature answer.
"I understand that it's not about me," he said. "It's easy to get in your head once you start to think internally, like 'why is this happening?' When you start to ask whys and all that stuff, that's when it becomes deeper than what it is and you're making it about yourself. As a competitor, I want to compete. The way I see it is a challenge to myself to be useful throughout every series. How do I become a better player to where I'm forcing the hand of having to be played?
"I think a lot of times in that situation, guys don't look internally in the right way. They like to kind of be on the defense wondering why is it happening to them. For me, it's like 'OK, what am I supposed to get out of the situation I'm in?' And we have a great team, we have a lot of depth to our team. So I understand that if it's not my night, I gotta stay ready. And I learned the value of the small details and things in playing for a championship, something greater than yourself. You have to do things and make sacrifices that you may not wanna make. And for me personally, if I wanna be a part of history, that's just how it's gonna be written for me."