Category: Minnesota T-Wolves Blog

Kevin Love has used the extra offseason time created by the lockout to reshape his body, a grueling regimen that will have him reporting to training camp 25 pounds lighter than he was last season.

Entering the final year of his rookie contract, his bank account is poised to get a lot heavier.

Love worked out at the Minnesota Timberwolves facility on Sunday for the first time since NBA owners and players reached a tentative labor agreement, and he said he was encouraged by the changes the Wolves have made as he prepares to enter into talks on a contract extension.

“I love Minneapolis, I love the Twin Cities,” Love said when asked if he hoped to sign a deal that would keep him here for the long term. “Really this is all I know. It’s the first NBA city I fell in love with. This is all I know. Maybe we’ll keep it that way, maybe we won’t.”

— Reported by Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press 

Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley is accusing his former agent and an AAU coach of conspiring to forge a relationship with him from the age of 14 and giving his mother improper cash benefits while Beasley starred at Kansas State, all in an effort to land the basketball prodigy as a client.

Beasley laid out the allegations in a lawsuit filed in Maryland a month ago in response to agent Joel Bell’s wrongful termination lawsuit against him. Beasley said Bell gave his mother, Fatima Smith, living expenses when he went to college, which likely would violate NCAA rules and federal regulations governing sports agents.

The Associated Press left messages for attorneys representing Beasley and Bell seeking comment. An attorney for AAU coach Curtis Malone and Malone himself vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

“The allegations of impropriety against Mr. Malone are baseless as a matter of law and he denies them,” attorney Bill Heyman said.

— Reported by the St. Paul Pioneer Press wire services

Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley has kept busy during an extended, locked-out NBA summer when he played ball everywhere from China to Manhattan’s famed asphalt playgrounds.

He has also taken up ballet to transform his body and hired a public- relations agency to improve his image.

“I want everyone to know that I’m not this monster that they perceive,” he said. “I’m a really nice guy.” …

He has played with childhood pal Durant and Wall in exhibition games across the country and also has incorporated elements of yoga, karate and, yes, ballet into summer workouts intended to make his body stronger, more limber and help ensure a long, productive career. He has dropped about 15 pounds after playing last season at 240 pounds.

— Reported by Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune

They can’t get into Target Center these days, so NBA stars John Wall, Joakim Noah and DeMarcus Cousins are among those expected to play in Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley’s “All Star Classic” at Osseo High School — of all places — next week.

Beasley’s Wolves teammates Derrick Williams, Wes Johnson, Martell Webster, Wayne Ellington and former Wolf Sebastian Telfair are scheduled to play as well in the Friday night, Oct. 21  exhibition game.

So, too, are Boston’s Jeff Green, Detroit’s Greg Monroe, L.A. Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan, Chicago’s Keith Bogans and Beasley’s longtime pal, former Dukie Nolan Smith.

— Reported by Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune

Looking ahead was not high on the priority list late Friday night as the Minnesota Lynx basked in their three-game sweep of the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA championship series at Philips Arena.

And really, why should it?

Celebratory cheers and toasts lasted well into the early morning Saturday in tribute to a whirlwind season of dominance that led to the ending of a 20-year championship drought by major professional sports teams in Minnesota.

Perhaps equally impressive, the Lynx’s 27-7 regular-season record and 7-1 run through the postseason brought heightened awareness throughout the region, so much so that it was difficult to get through a day without hearing about the Lynx on sports radio or on television news.

The Lynx averaged nearly 9,000 fans a game this season, and during their playoff run, they sold nearly 1,000 season tickets. Crowds of more than 15,000 attended the first two games of the championship series.

“Next year?” point guard Lindsay Whalen asked incredulously. “I’m not even thinking about that right now. We deserve this (celebration) and are going to enjoy it.”

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve refused to look ahead as well.

“That’s not necessary right now,” she said.

— Reported by Tim Leighton of the St. Paul Pioneer Press

Former NBA 1st round draft pick Isaiah “J.R.” Rider was arrested in Arizona this week for violating his probation … TMZ has learned.

Rider — who played in the NBA from 1993 to 2001 — is currently behind bars in Maricopa County on a no-bail hold.  It’s unclear why police believe Rider violated his probation.

Rider’s probation stems from a 2010 incident — where he fled from police after they tried to pull him over for driving erratically. He pled guilty to unlawful flight from a law enforcement vehicle.

— Reported by TMZ.