When the San Antonio Spurs' bus parked at Target Center Saturday morning for the team's pregame shootaround, the memories started flowing for Tre Jones.
He's been here, a lot.
The former Apple Valley star won two state high school titles in the arena. He saw countless Lynx and Timberwolves games, watching brother Tyus begin his NBA career on the team both grew up watching.
"There are a lot of emotions that come with walking into the building," Jones said hours before the Spurs faced the Timberwolves. "I remember walking in for our state tournament games, seeing everything when my brother was here, looking up at the banners the Lynx have put up. … This is one of my favorite arenas, because it's home."
The schedule-makers did Jones a favor, but COVID-19 not so much. Saturday was his 25th birthday, and what better place to celebrate it but his "home" arena? But the pandemic removed fans from the game, so on the night of his first pro game in Minnesota, the rookie from Duke faced none of the scrambling for tickets for friends and family that would usually occur.
"The stands, there are covering over all the seats, nothing's open," he said. "It's a super weird feeling. I definitely did not think this would be how my homecoming would be. But it's fun. Obviously I'll be looking forward to having fans in here [when he plays here in the future]. But it will have to be a different time. But I'm going to enjoy it, no matter what."
In another scheduling quirk, the Spurs opened the season Dec. 23 in Memphis, where Tyus Jones is now playing. Their mother, Debbie, was able to travel for that game, though she wasn't at the arena.
Tre Jones, taken in the second round of the NBA draft by the Spurs, has played sparingly, averaging 3.7 points and 3.3 minutes entering Saturday's game. But he said he was ready for it, having talked with his brother and Gary Trent Jr., another former teammate at Apple Valley and now with Portland.
