Nobody ever has to worry about Mike Conley. He is one of the most centered, methodically wise and amiable human beings I’ve ever encountered. His approach to life is infused with confidence, generosity and good faith. What he does after his days of playing basketball are over will be successful.
On February 9, 2023, Wolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly made the greatest trade in Timberwolves history. (As someone on the beat since the franchise’s second season of existence, I’m qualified to make that declaration.)
Gone was the divisive D’Angelo Russell, his career on a fairly steady downhill path since that day. Arriving was Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a player who flourished in Minnesota under the guidance of Conley and coach Chris Finch, before getting a nice raise to go play in Atlanta over this offseason. A couple of second-round picks were added to the Wolves cupboard, which had been laid bare by the Rudy Gobert trade.
And, as the crucial centerpiece of the deal, the Wolves landed Mike Conley.
He changed the dynamic of the locker room and the culture of the entire team. The adults in the room, Gobert and Kyle Anderson, had a voluble ally and a player who could instill poise on a roster filled with youthful, untested talent with the flick of a wrist or a few words of advice.
Often the smallest player on the court, Conley battled on defense, slipping and ambushing screens with quick sidesteps and keen anticipation — an ace “chase” defender. On offense, he was good for better than 40% accuracy on his three-pointers and adroit in countering closeouts with his trademark floater with the off (right) hand.
Related: Is Giannis Antetokounmpo worth breaking up the Timberwolves troika of rising stars?
But where the magisterial presence of Conley was felt most on the court was in organizing an offense. Unlike D’Lo, he accommodated his feeds and pick-and-roll actions around the individual virtues — and away from the vices — of his teammates. His passing helped govern movement, made the offense as egalitarian as possible without starving Ant or the night’s hot shooter. His mistakes were only frequent enough to prove he was human.
Conley, who was dealt to Chicago on Tuesday in a salary dump almost surely designed to facilitate another roster move before the Thursday trading deadline, rarely let the sudden slippage in his prowess show in his facial expressions or body movements. But he knew better than anyone what we all saw — first the floater and then the trey clanked with increasing frequency. He was more vulnerable to being steamrolled by larger, younger, quicker players. His brief respites from decline came with extended rest.
But the blessing of his presence had already been done. He leaves Minnesota having played 215 regular season games. The Wolves won 63.3% of them (136-79). He appeared in seven playoff series. The Wolves won four of them and twice advanced to the Western Conference Finals. Forty-one point three percent of the 984 three-pointers he launched tickled through the twine, as did 89.4% of his 321 free throws. His assist to turnover ratio, 1014/233, was 4.35-to-1, ranking in the top ten in the NBA every year he was in Minnesota, including this season, where he is currently fourth.
Less tangibly, but at least as important, Conley’s imprint can be seen in the way Ant has learned to negotiate, both physically and psychologically, consistent pressure from opposing defenses as his stardom has glowed ever brighter. It can be seen in the way players around the league come up to him after everybody is dressed in the hallways and their team buses are ready to go. It can be seen in the more professional way the Wolves carry themselves.
I’ll remember the many times, more than dozen, when the Wolves played horribly and Conley was the one to make sense of it with critical honesty and yet with abiding kernels of hope and optimism.
But the most vivid memory I have of Mike Conley is from what happened at the end of regulation in the Wolves play-in game against the Lakers in 2023.
Down by three points, 98-95, with 1.4 seconds left, Conley received the inbounds pass deep in the corner and immediately let it fly while being fouled by Anthony Davis of the Lakers. When the refs blew the whistle there was 0.1 second on the clock. By NBA rules, you need at least 0.3 seconds to get off a shot. That meant Conley’s three free throws would determine if the Wolves lost or went into overtime. He couldn’t afford a single miss.
The first free-throw rubbed against the front iron and crept over with a slight bounce to make it 98-96. The next two went straight through the hoop.
Successfully converting three do-or-die shots is the most sustained pressure situation I’ve ever seen placed on one player in a basketball game at any level. Yes, the Wolves went on to lose that game in overtime. But the composure of Conley, doing everything possible to get his team where it needed to be, is a hallmark of his influential tenure in Minnesota.
Past Britt Robson coverage of Mike Conley’s Career with the Minnesota Timberwolves
April 13, 2023: Tales from the play-in: Two stars and a sage
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