LaMelo Ball turned his first home game in a Wolves uniform into a full variety show, and by the time he started dancing, Anthony Edwards and Bones Hyland had completely lost it on camera.
That was the headline moment out of a 117-94 win over Toronto at Target Center, one that pushed Minnesota to 3-0 to open the season. Four days after the travel call everyone was still arguing about in his road debut, Ball finally got to play in front of his own crowd, and he made sure the box score wasn’t the only thing anyone talked about afterward.
He was in a good mood about it too. “I just love being here,” Ball said after the game. “I love doing what I do, playing basketball. It’s a great group of guys. Minnesota, amazing, so we’re going to keep going.”
The NBA’s own account had the dancing clip up within minutes.
https://x.com/NBA/status/2114720140885721276
“LaMelo DANCES. Bones and Ant REACT.” is doing a lot of work in four words, and anyone who’s watched it even once knows it’s not exaggerating. Edwards looks like a guy watching his roommate attempt stand-up for the first time, and given how the rest of the night went for Minnesota, that checks out.
Underneath the dancing is a stat line that deserves more attention than it’s going to get: 15 points, 8 assists, 4 of 5 from three, in just 16 minutes. Ball picked up fouls early and never got the kind of run that turns a good line into a monster one, and the Wolves still beat the Raptors by 23 points. Edwards carried the scoring load himself, going for 26 on 10-of-18 shooting in 27 minutes, and Minnesota as a team shot 56 percent from the field while holding Toronto to 9-of-29 in the first quarter alone.
A second angle of the handles made the rounds too.
https://x.com/NBA/status/2114745661316825179
That’s the part that should actually bother the rest of the league. The Timberwolves are 3-0, and their new point guard spent part of his home debut parked on the bench in foul trouble, then still out-assisted guys who logged considerably more minutes than he did. Three games is three games, and I’m not handing out any trophies in October. But watching this team win a laugher without needing Ball on the floor for 30-plus minutes is its own kind of answer, and if this is close to the ceiling once rotations settle down, the rest of the NBA season should probably be paying attention now.
My sister already saved the dance clip to her phone, and she doesn’t root for a single team in the league. That’s the entire pitch for this Wolves team right now.
