The Minnesota Timberwolves lost a close game to the defending world champion Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night, but the team got a surprise solid performance from reserve center Luka Garza, who had 11 points and six rebounds off the bench for Minnesota.
After the game, the former Iowa Cyclone talked about what it's like to get support from Minnesota fans, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic:
“Luka Garza on the home crowd: ‘I never thought I’d be fans of Gopher fans, but I love them and they give me so much energy. Since I got here, it’s been incredible the support they have for me. When I get in there, it gives me an extra boost to go even harder'”
Of course, Iowa and Minnesota both play in the Big Ten, so it must be strange for Garza to have ended up with the Timberwolves and getting so much support from fans that inevitably support the Gophers as well.
Luka Garza starred at Iowa and won multiple Player of the Year awards for his 2020-21 season where he averaged 24.1 points and 8.7 assists for the Cyclones.
After his stellar collegiate career, Garza was drafted out of Iowa with the 52nd overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
The Timberwolves re-signed Garza last offseason after he initially signed a contract with them in 2022 after a single season with the Pistons.
This season, the big man has averaged 3.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in 4.4 minutes per game over his 17 games played. For his career, Garza has averaged 5.5 points and 2.4 rebounds in 77 career games.
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