Mike Conley Tells Jon K. That He’s About to Cover NBA History

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Mike Conley, Minnesota Timberwolves
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY SportsCredit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

In case you haven’t heard, the Minnesota Timberwolves are down 3-0 to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. Their veteran leader Mike Conley isn’t phased by that however, and while a comeback would be of earth-shattering proportions, he’s on the record saying not to count them out.

The number to know is 154-0. That’s the record for NBA teams with a 3-0 lead during an NBA playoff series. Jason Kidd’s Dallas Mavericks are currently in that spot, and while the Minnesota Timberwolves are the higher seed, they appear set on representing the Western Conference in the NBA Final. Mike Conley says not so fast.

Mike Conley is Here for the Drama

So far the storylines of the Western Conference Finals have revolved around Karl-Anthony Towns failing to show up, and Anthony Edwards looking like a shell of himself. Despite those realities, Chris Finch’s team has lost all three games by a combined 13 points. That might be where Mike Conley is drawing inspiration from.

When Conley walked past The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski and a gaggle of other reporters, following the Wolves’ Game 3 loss, he told them to get ready, because they were about to cover history, obviously suggesting Minnesota has a four-game win streak brewing.

“[Sunday] night, at the end of the night, I’m standing in the hallway after the locker room was closing and Mike Conley walks by and he kind of shakes his head. He just looks at me and he says, ‘Hey Jon, you’re going to have a helluva story to write. We’re going to make history, so just hang with us.’ And it wasn’t a whisper. There were a bunch of writers around us, there were a bunch of people around. I said, I’m ready when you are Mike.”

Jon Krawczynski telling Dan Barreiro about Conley’s historic prediction (via KFAN Radio)

Related: Timberwolves Players and Coaches Saying the Right Things Heading into Game 4

History Has to Start Somewhere, Conley Says Why Not Us?

It certainly has to start somewhere. History is only available to us so we can find a way to challenge it. If the Minnesota Timberwolves are going to make Mike Conley’s prediction come true, then it will take something we have never seen before coming to fruition. Of course it was just last year when the Boston Celtics pushed the Eastern Conference Finals to a Game 7 after going down 3-0, but they couldn’t complete the comeback.

Sports offer opportunities for these sorts of storylines to play out all of the time. No 16-seed had ever won a game in the NCAA Tournament until the Retrievers of UMBC pulled off an upset in 2018, and then it happened again last season when Fairleigh Dickinson accomplished the same feat.

At some point an NBA team will overcome a 3-0 deficit, and for Mike Conley’s team, winning four games in a row is something they have already accomplished over five different stretches this season alone.

Related: Timberwolves Players and Coaches Saying the Right Things Heading into Game 4

Anthony Edwards seems to think that Karl-Anthony Towns is going to come out hot from deep, and keeping the energy from his Michael Jordan-esque slam would help himself offensively. Conley is going to need teammates to help cash this check, and the bank would be paying out in epic proportions.

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