You gotta love ‘em, and we have Example A of that with the Timberwolves in Joe Ingles, originally from Adelaide, the veteran who didn’t break into the NBA until 2014 with Utah just after his 27th birthday, who set a league record of playing in 418 consecutive games (384 regular season, 34 playoffs) and now is winding down his career with basically zero playing time.
Considering what he was expecting when signing with the Wolves last July, to have played in 19 games for an average of six minutes, it has been astounding to see the attitude that Ingles has brought to the sideline.
As he turned, there was Ingles up off his seat, leaning toward NAW and pumping a fist in his direction. As the cousin of league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, NAW had been terrible in Game 1 on Tuesday.
Two days later, Nickeil was ready to fight to still make it a contest in the fourth quarter, and Ingles was up and taking immediate notice.