MINNEAPOLIS – Everyone is excited about this year’s Minnesota Timberwolves playoffs, adding a player who was an integral component of the team’s playoffs 20 years ago. But Troy Hudson is even more excited about his new role as coach and mentor.
Hudson came in from Southern Illinois University and came to the NBA at the time. That in itself is weird.
Hudson, a component of the Wolves’ longest playoff streak: the 2004 team that reached the Western Conference Finals. He still lives in Minnesota, enjoys watching his former team, and is still very concerned about the game he loves.
After ending his professional basketball career due to injuries, Hudson finally started coaching. His first major school assignment was at Eagle Ridge Academy in Minnetonka. This is the first year of a program for a newly formed women’s team.
“I had 8 women who had never touched a basketball before,” she said. “They didn’t know the rules. I had to teach them how to line up at the free-throw line. I mean, from scratch. So, I think it helped me perceive how to take other approaches. “
He’s training and learning. Only now the team is made up of 12-year-olds.
It’s another challenge, but a goal beyond the game.
“Just the progression of kids in a holistic approach. More than just basketball skills. You can tell a lot about basketball, but at the same time, in this medium, it’s whatever catches their attention,” he said.
And one of the guys he coaches wears the same braids he did when he was a player. There’s a clever reason: It’s 11-year-old Troy Hudson Jr. , a fan of his father but undeterred by his abilities.
“He shot the ball well and can just play pick and roll,” Hudson Jr. said.
“But I guess you have a chance to be bigger than him?” asked WCCO’s Mike Max.
“Hmm,” he replied.
His father is where he needs to be, bringing his game back to life by training the next generation of young athletes.
“I’m quite my players, but I’ve learned that the right way to do it is to extend the appointments with them. Private appointments with them, because they’re different,” Hudson said.
But back to the Wolves. What Hudson sees this year reminds him a bit of what he saw 20 years ago.
“You can also just say they have a family connection,” he said. “Maybe they would do it differently, but I think it’s the same thing. They’re connected. “