Why Die-Hard Fan Craig Kilborn Has to Watch Timberwolves Games Alone

Craig Kilborn watches Minnesota Timberwolves playoff games alone. He talks to a lamp. He has been known to leave the room mid-game and go to dinner. Rich pulled the curtain back on a fan ritual that has more in common with Jerry West than with the average Twitter live-thread.

"I have a Conquistador lamp in there and sometimes I think that lamp is my best friend," Kilborn told Rich. "We're very close."

The lamp is the watching companion. Kilborn's wife, Princess Cherry, knows the drill. When the game gets bad enough, Kilborn rearranges the furniture, sometimes putting the Conquistador outside the den entirely. It is not a superstition.

"I just can't watch a train wreck," Kilborn said. "I'm a purist. The turnovers are too frustrating."

He pointed to Jerry West, who used to roam the corridors of the old Forum unable to face whatever was happening on the floor below.

His best-known live-game escape happened during Game 7 in Denver a couple of years ago. The Wolves were down 15 in the first quarter and a half. Kilborn turned to his wife and said they were leaving. They went to a nice place. Martini. Good food. Kilborn would check the game at 8:45 in case it went to overtime.

"There was no roller coaster," Kilborn said. "I checked at the bar and I had 14 texts. So I knew something happened. We won. I went nuts. We had to go home and watch the fourth quarter."

Rich, who agonizes through three teams (Yankees, Michigan football, Michigan basketball), conceded that this might in fact be the correct way to live.

The other thing Kilborn wanted to talk about was Anthony Edwards's jumper. Kilborn pointed to a specific mechanical change, a tribute to the work Edwards has put in.

"When he came in the league, very athletic, very raw. And not a great jump shooter," Kilborn said. He noted Edwards once told the Wolves he did not shoot like Karl-Anthony Towns or D'Angelo Russell. He pulled the ball back.

"When he was with the Olympics and Kevin Durant, he puts the ball in front now," Kilborn said. The change took. Edwards led the league in three-pointers last year and shot 40% this season. Wolves broadcaster Michael Grady, Kilborn noted, has been pounding the table about the shot development.

He landed a comparison that should make some All-Star wings uncomfortable.

"If you look at these other athletes, LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Kobe," Kilborn said, "Ant has a higher career three-point field goal percentage."

For the all-time conversation, Kilborn went Jordan first, LeBron second. Greatest team ever was Magic-Kareem Showtime Lakers, which he said with full conviction despite his own complicated Lakers history.

The Wolves face the Spurs in a Game 5 he is not sure they win. Donte DiVincenzo is out, and Julius Randle is struggling. He gave Stephon Castle full respect.

Kilborn will be watching alone, possibly from a bar, possibly with the Conquistador lamp on standby.