A scheduled NBA game became a somber event in Minneapolis, with both Warriors and Timberwolves players and coaches visibly affected by the city’s grief after a second fatal shooting by federal agents in less than a month.
Basketball was played in Minneapolis on Sunday, Jan. 25, but the atmosphere surrounding Golden State’s 111-85 victory over Minnesota was unlike any game those in attendance ever experienced. Originally scheduled to be nationally televised on Saturday, the game was postponed for 24 hours after federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti earlier that morning not far from the Timberwolves’ home arena.
“I thought the vibe in the stands was one of the most bizarre, sad games I’ve ever been a part of,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said afterward. “Their team … We could tell they were struggling with everything that’s been going on and what the city has been through. It was very sad. It was a sad night.”
Before the game, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch fought through tears as he reflected on the city’s second deadly interaction between agents and residents this month.
“As an organization, we are heartbroken for what we are having to witness and endure and watch,” Finch said. “We just want to extend our thoughts, prayers and concern for Mr. Pretti, (his) family, all the loved ones and everyone involved in such an unconscionable situation in a community that we really love, full of people who are, by nature, peaceful and prideful. We just stand in support of our great community here.”
Both Finch and Kerr said they discussed the situation with their players and everyone agreed with the decision to postpone the game on Saturday. Emotions were still raw throughout the community as thousands of sign-carrying protesters marched in freezing conditions outside Target Center before the game shouting “ICE out! ICE out!”
And inside, several members of the trampoline dunk team wore shirts that also said “ICE OUT” in block capital letters. The visible signs of protest and grief were a stark reminder that this was not a typical NBA game.
“I know there’s a lot of heavy hearts,” said Warriors star guard Stephen Curry, who scored 26 points in the win and moved into 20th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. “A lot of things – especially (for) this Minneapolis community (Saturday) – was rough. It’s been rough. … You can kind of feel it when we got here two days ago. The protests that were going on downtown, it was amazing to watch the turnout, and peaceful protests, the unified voice that was here. You feel like that would kind of turn the tide to a more positive direction, and then, you wake up in the morning, and you see what happened.”
The game itself was a formality in many ways, a distraction from the larger events unfolding outside the arena. The Warriors’ rout was a stark contrast to the somber mood inside, a dissonance that was not lost on anyone involved. The shooting of Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was the second fatal encounter between federal agents and Minneapolis residents in less than a month, following the death of Renee Good on January 7. This context made the Timberwolves’ decision to play, and the Warriors’ decision to travel, a complex one, rooted in a desire to provide a semblance of normalcy for a community in turmoil.
For the players, it was a unique challenge to compartmentalize. The roar of the crowd was mixed with the echoes of protests just blocks away. The focus required for professional basketball was at odds with the human instinct to grieve and empathize with a city in mourning. The result was a game defined not by its score, but by its palpable, shared sense of sadness.
The events of that weekend have raised serious questions about the role of sports in times of crisis. Can a basketball game truly offer a diversion when a city is reeling? Or does it simply highlight the gulf between the world of professional sports and the real-world struggles of the community it inhabits? For the Warriors and Timberwolves, the answer was to acknowledge the tragedy head-on, using their platform to stand with Minneapolis. In doing so, they created a legacy for the game that transcended the final score, turning a routine NBA matchup into a powerful statement of human solidarity.
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