Craig Kilborn Talks Timberwolves-Spurs, Kyler Murray & More with Rich

Craig Kilborn drove himself to the studio. He texted Rich the words "humble servant" when declining the offered car service. He arrived with takes on the Timberwolves, the Spurs, the Vikings, and the strange middle period of his life where he was a Los Angeles traffic school instructor.

Start with the basketball. Kilborn watches Wolves playoff games alone, in a den with a Conquistador lamp that doubles as his closest companion during a tense fourth quarter. He has been known to leave games and go to dinner when they get bad. He is not superstitious, he insisted. He just cannot watch a train wreck.

"I'm a purist," Kilborn told Rich. "The turnovers are too frustrating."

His read on the Wolves' upcoming Game 5 against the Spurs was not optimistic. The Spurs are good. Stephon Castle is "an absolute stud." The Wolves are slowly figuring out how to play against Victor Wembanyama, mostly on offense by kicking to the corner instead of lofting it over him. With Donte DiVincenzo out and Julius Randle struggling, the burden falls hard on Anthony Edwards.

Kilborn used the moment to praise the work Edwards has put in on his jumper. When Edwards entered the league, Kilborn said, he had no shot, told the Wolves point-blank that he did not shoot like Karl-Anthony Towns or D'Angelo Russell. Then he went to the Olympics with Kevin Durant and changed his mechanics. Put the ball in front instead of pulling it back. He led the league in three-pointers last season and shot 40% this year. The career three-point percentage, Kilborn noted, is now higher than LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, or Kobe Bryant.

On the all-time conversation, Kilborn went Jordan first, LeBron second, no debate. Greatest team, Magic-Kareem Showtime Lakers.

The biggest substance in the interview, though, was about the Vikings.

Kilborn has been following Minnesota since Chuck Foreman was a rookie. He wanted Aaron Rodgers as the Vikings' quarterback last offseason. He still thinks that would have been the right move. The Brett Favre precedent, he noted, sits right there. Favre had his best statistical season in football as a Viking, not a Packer.

On the current quarterback room, Kilborn was honest. He likes Kyler Murray. He has always been skeptical of short quarterbacks getting passes batted at the line of scrimmage, but said when he saw what was available, the Vikings had to grab Murray. He has not given up on JJ McCarthy either. He thinks McCarthy is 23 and has time. The wrinkle, he admitted, is that the Vikings might not have it.

His sharpest criticism was reserved for head coach Kevin O'Connell.

"Tremendous coach, very likable guy, very positive," Kilborn said. "But we have an issue."

The issue, in Kilborn's view, is the offensive philosophy. He thinks O'Connell is too pass-happy, too dependent on chunk plays, and too dismissive of the short passing game when it works. He pointed to the Vikings' win in London over Cleveland, where Carson Wentz went 9-for-9 on short passes and marched down the field to throw the winner to Jordan Addison. After the game, O'Connell himself said how hard that kind of drive is to construct, and that the team needed chunk plays. That sentence, Kilborn said, drives him crazy.

"Throw the short passes," Kilborn said. "Mix it up. One of my favorite plays is the screen pass."

The closer of the hour belonged to a phone call from "LA June," who identified himself as Kilborn's student at a Los Angeles traffic school in 1988. June said Kilborn had told the class one day he was going to make it. Kilborn said he was surprised that came out of his mouth on a workday.

Kilborn then offered a window into how he had taught the eight-hour class. He went around the room making people introduce themselves and their occupation. One student said he was in a band. Kilborn asked if it was a DEVO cover band. The student said no, he was actually in DEVO.

The traffic manual, Kilborn admitted, did not get much air time. Instead of the standard gory crash videos, Kilborn showed Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

"You're going the wrong way," Kilborn said, quoting John Candy.

That is, in fact, true.