As Timberwolves win back Minnesota, owner Glen Taylor remains No. 1 fan in final season

The 18,024 fans who pack the Timberwolves game downtown Saturday night will get a "Believe That" T-shirt as they arrive at Target Center. That's a nice holiday gift, but there's really no longer a need for giveaways at Timberwolves games to entice fans.

They already believe.

The Timberwolves are the hottest ticket in town and one of the best teams in the NBA. If these longtime providers of pro basketball disappointment — it'll be 20 years soon since they've won a playoff series — haven't captured some of your attention yet, it might just be a matter of time.

"It's fun,'' team owner Glen Taylor said on the phone from Florida this week, with plans to hop on a plane so he can be at Saturday's "AE Night" game, a nod to Anthony Edwards' shoe drop and the Believe That ad campaign. "The fans have been very nice, talking about how much fun it is to watch this team.''

The Wolves are 10-1 at Target Center this season, with all 11 games marked as sellouts. It's an extension of the way last season ended when, striving for postseason position, Minnesota sold out its final 12 games.

There is no reason, according to Ryan Tanke, the Wolves' chief operating officer, for this streak not to continue.

"We obviously had an expectation we would continue to build on the success of the last two years,'' Tanke said. "But this is certainly above and beyond the expectations of our fan base. We believe this is sustainable. We think this is the start of something really, really special.''

Minneapolis Downtown Council President and CEO Adam Duininck — a lifelong Minnesotan who has seen the ups and downs of Wolves basketball — was just in a board meeting. The council has 450 members, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups working toward a thriving city. All anyone talked about was the Wolves, he said, and the 18,000 who flock to home games.

"Because of how big it is for downtown,'' Duininck said. "You talk with business owners, everyone is excited about the Timberwolves.''

No one more so than Taylor.

Thirty years ago, he saved the Minnesota Timberwolves. As he did so, while buying the team and preventing a franchise move, he made a decision. He was going to be accessible. He wasn't going to be the owner sitting in the suites. And most games, the man who bought the team in 1994 is beside the Wolves bench with his wife, Becky, a front-row seat for the good times — and there have been some — and bad: The Timberwolves have the worst winning percentage of any active NBA franchise.

This season is different. Shocking as it is to some, this team and this building — 34-year-old Target Center — are cool again.

"It's important to me,'' said Taylor, who also owns the Star Tribune. "It's great for the fans, but I have my own personal pride, too.''

The suites are sold out. The Wolves entered Friday tied with Boston for the top spot in the entire league. The Timberwolves have added 34 corporate partners the last two years. The team's TV ratings on Bally Sports North are up 75% from last season, Tanke said. And three of the first 11 home games marked the top three games in the team's Target Center history in terms of merchandise sales.

The ratings might be due to the popular partnership of announcers Michael Grady and Jim Petersen. The sales might be augmented by classic and city jerseys that teams have been issuing.

Or, maybe, winning cures all ills.

All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns is healthy after last season's nagging calf injury. All-Star guard Anthony Edwards signed his big contract. Center Naz Reid has become a fan darling. He and defensive standout Jaden McDaniels both re-signed before the season. And three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, a veteran center acquired in a mammoth trade before last season, seems reborn.

Home games are an all-out party most nights. Tanke can feel an NFL vibe, with everyone wearing team gear — throwback jerseys, the classic blues, the city editions. The mood reminds Duininck of a pre-pandemic downtown.

The players are noticing, too. Not often in the last two decades could the Timberwolves claim a true homecourt advantage.

"To be able to feel that the community, the city and the fans are behind us, it makes us even stronger,'' Gobert said.

Said Wolves coach Chris Finch: "I always felt this is a tough place to come and play. The arena's tight. The crowd's right on top of you and can be a little mean at times if you're an opponent. I like that.''

The business-side executives for the team agree.

"It's one thing to see the data around it,'' Tanke said. "But walk into the Target Center and you can feel it.''

'No regrets'

The Timberwolves were headed south in 1994 when Taylor prevented a franchise move to New Orleans by making his purchase. Yes, it has become an investment more lucrative than he could have hoped, but his motivation was to keep pro basketball in Minnesota.

Taylor has benefited from the skyrocketing value of NBA franchises. He bought the Wolves for $88 million and now the 82-year-old Mankato businessman is about to hand over principal ownership to Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, who are buying the team for $1.5 billion.

Taylor has owned the Minnesota Lynx since 1999 and has watched them win four WNBA titles. On the Wolves side of his basketball business, Taylor allowed that there hasn't been nearly as much success as he had hoped. But now, the team has great promise.

At most home games, Taylor is right in the middle of it. Sitting beside the bench, he has watched and heard everything. Oftentimes, that hasn't been the most pleasant thing. Their first season was 1989-90; in 2,735 games, they are 1,109-1,626 for a .405 win percentage, 30th among the 30 NBA franchises.

Last year there were flashes. This year, the defense has been there — the Wolves have the best defensive rating in the league. And that has led to wins.

But that doesn't mean Taylor wasn't ready to sell.

"No regrets at all,'' he said. "It's been a fun experience. The financial thing is out of this world; I never planned on that. Never thought it would happen. It will allow us to do a lot of things with the [Glen A. Taylor] Foundation. But I've done it long enough.''

The Taylors want to spend more time in Florida. He'll enjoy his final months as owner, then move on. The fact that the Wolves are ascendant only makes it sweeter.

"The last couple years we've been putting together a team that's very competitive,'' Taylor said. "Last year we finished strong. This year started strong. I feel good that we've left the team in a good place.''