NBA: Special Night For Nate Wolters In Sioux Falls

The NBA preseason doesn’t generally have a heartfelt story behind it. It’s full of battles for roster positioning pitting players against their teammates in an effort to gain a paycheck once the season comes around.  On top of that, it’s about each player on the roster proving their worth to the team before the season begins.

But on Thursday night at the first big event at the new Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., one heartfelt story shined bright.

South Dakota State University alum Nate Wolters made his NBA return to the state that helped make him a national name throughout his college career. Sioux Falls, located just about 50 miles south of Brookings, home of SDSU, would be his destination along with his new team, the Milwaukee Bucks.

While the billing was set as the Bucks against the host Minnesota Timberwolves, the real story was Wolters. The same fans that had the opportunity to cheer him on during his collegiate career would have at least one last chance to gather together and show their support and appreciation for all he’s done for the area.

The story itself was not lost on new Bucks coach Larry Drew, who placed Wolters into the starting lineup – Wolters has been projected as the fourth or fifth guard on the Bucks roster throughout the summer behind fellow newcomers Brandon Knight, O.J. Mayo, Luke Ridnour and Gary Neal – allowing the fans an early peek at their local hero.

"“I thought it’d be a nice thing to do,” Drew said of starting Wolters over the veteran Knight.  “I was very happy for him.”"

With Wolters in the starting lineup for the first time in his very short NBA career, the Bucks jumped out to a quick 15-4 lead just under five minutes into the game, bringing the crowd to a loud applause, as they did every time Wolters stepped onto the court throughout the game. The Timberwolves may have been hosting the game and there are plenty of Wolves fans in the South Dakota region, but the Bucks had just as many fans on their side, if only because of the Wolters factor.

John Henson wasn’t about to let the entire night become about Nate, though. He also had some work to get done. Henson scored 10 points in the first half, several of which came off of alley-oops from teammates. Henson’s progression over the past year has been remarkable and his work ethic showed on the floor Thursday night. Henson would finish the game with 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

On the other side, Timberwolves camp invitee Olytheus Jeffers staked his claim at one of the final roster spots for Minnesota, coming up with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field along with six timely rebounds in the Wolves’ 98-89 victory.

After the game, media members surrounded the Bucks locker room, all in an effort to speak to the man of the hour, Wolters. Wolters finished the game with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting with two rebounds and assists apiece. As journalists and cameramen entered the locker room, Henson smiled nonchalantly and proclaimed, “Nate will be out in a second, guys,” to a few laughs from his teammates.

Wolters returned from the shower, threw on some clothes and welcomed the media hoard surrounding his locker. He said his performance on Thursday felt “a lot better than the first game,” and that he found out from coach Drew that he would be starting during the morning shoot-around. He was all smiles after the game and happy with his performance.

After the rest of the media had their turn with Wolters,  I stayed back to catch up with the man whom I had spent two years previous helping with workouts and practices at SDSU. After a few minutes of talking about the normal, “How you been? Good to see you,” type conversational pieces, I asked him the one question I needed an answer to: Had his Bucks teammates given him any sort of rookie initiation/hazing since his arrival in Milwaukee?

“Not really,” Wolters said. “They’ve been pretty good to me so far.” Henson, standing close by, decided that it might be a good idea to have something for him.  I offered up the suggestion of the normal pink backpack and/or teddy bear to carry with him at all times. Perhaps maybe even a pillow pet.

Henson decided it was a good idea and called Bucks starting center Larry Sanders into the conversation. After exchanging a few words, Larry and John decided what they were going to do for him: a pink fanny pack.

On a night that was made up to be about one player and the fans that came to cheer him, the team unity was still strong in the Bucks locker room after the game. Nate Wolters may be in the NBA now, but he’s got guys like John Henson and Larry Sanders to give the rookie a hard time as well as have his back. Even if that means he has to wear a pink fanny pack for the rest of the season.

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