Ricky Rubio's homecoming had started with him being introduced as the first member of the Utah Jazz lineup on Friday night. The sellout crowd was not yet settled in Target Center, yet those paying attention gave Rubio a loud ovation.
Asked later about the greeting, Rubio said: "I have a lot of friends here. I haven't seen them for a while, so it was good.''
This seemed to put the Minnesota fans in the "friend'' category, and that would not be a stretch. The difficulty in making jump shots was a frustration for Wolves hard-cores, yet it never changed an overall fondness for Rubio -- as an athlete who came off as devoid of arrogance in his personality, as a tough competitor, as someone determined to make himself part of a winning team in the NBA.
All of those things Minnesotans were able to love in Ricky, if only that stroke of his led to a jump shot that came quicker and with more arc.
Rick Adelman, Flip Saunders and Sam Mitchell all coached Rubio, with various views as to whether his wonderful floor generalship could make up for his flawed shooting.
There was no such quandary for Tom Thibodeau, who became the president for basketball and the coach before the 2016-17 season. There were Rubio trade rumors almost immediately. There were a few weeks last winter when Rubio was making jump shots as never before in the NBA, but that didn't change the opinion of many that Thibodeau was going to move Ricky if possible.
The Wolves wound up sending him to Utah this summer for a future first-rounder, then used the money saved to sign Jeff Teague, another veteran point guard, as a free agent.
Friday's game was a bit of a brawl from the start, and the Wolves were almost as much of an offensive mess as they had been in losing the season opener on Wednesday in San Antonio.