Tickets
By Bill Koch
Go.BEARCATS.com
Seven weeks after Sean Kilpatrick made his long-awaited NBA debut, the details of what happened in his first game remain blurry, which is understandable given how the day unfolded.
One minute he was in Wilmington, Delaware, preparing for a game against the Erie Bayhawks, the next minute he was in his car speeding north toward New York, hoping he didn't run out of gas, and thinking about what he would tell the cop if he got pulled over for speeding.
"I said to myself, `If the cops pull me over, I'm going to tell them the exact reason,' " Kilpatrick said. "Hopefully, they would let me go."
On March 19, his first season as a professional basketball player was winding to its conclusion and it had been a good one. The former University of Cincinnati All-American, who was traded earlier in the year from the Santa Cruz Warriors to the Delaware 87ers, averaged 16.1 points and 3.1 rebounds in 22 games for the 87ers, who play in the NBA Development League as an affiliate of the Philadelphia 76ers.
He fully expected that he would finish the season in Delaware when he was told out of the blue on that afternoon that the Minnesota Timberwolves had offered him a 10-day contract and that he needed to be in New York in a few hours to play against the Knicks.
"Honestly, my heart started just racing," Kilpatrick said. "I was confused. I was getting ready for the game we were going to have the next day. Coach (Kevin Young) came in and said, `You've got a 10-day contract. You've been called up.' I thought it was going to be in Philadelphia, but he said, no, it was in Minnesota. I had to get on the road pretty fast."
The first person he called with the good news was UC coach Mick Cronin.
"He was laughing," Kilpatrick said. "I told him, Coach, I'm heading to the Garden and I only have four hours to get there. He started busting out laughing. He said you've only got 15 minutes to stretch so you'd better make sure you loosen up those ankles on the gas and the brakes. I called Mick and then my mom, then right after that (UC assistant coach) Darren Savino. I didn't have time to call my dad. After I got off the phone with Coach Savino, my phone started blowing up."
The situation was unusual, if not bizarre. The Wolves were so depleted by injuries that they had only seven healthy players. Under the NBA's rules, they needed eight to field a team. Kilpatrick had worked out for them the previous summer leading up to the draft and he was in the neighborhood, so they signed him to a 10-day contract. He understood that when those 10 days were up and some of the injured Minnesota players returned, he would probably be back in the D-League.
But that didn't matter. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard from White Plains, New York, had reached his goal of playing in the NBA. He planned to make the most of it for as long as it lasted.
"The experience of being in the NBA, it's amazing," Kilpatrick said, "being able to be around other superior athletes that you can relate to them on a lot of different aspects. You really dream about being in those types of situations and actually being on that NBA floor."
About 45 minutes before tipoff, Kilpatrick pulled his car into the Madison Square Garden parking area. When he walked into the Minnesota locker room, the first person he saw was 15-time All-Star Kevin Garnett, one of the injured players.
"He said, `Welcome to the team, young fella.' Then he patted me on the head," Kilpatrick said.
He had very little time to prepare for the game. He didn't know the offensive plays, but said he had some familiarity with the Wolves' defensive concepts because they were similar to some of the defenses that UC uses.
He entered the game early in the second quarter, but says he had no time to pause and reflect on the journey that put him there -- the year he spent in prep school before going to UC, the redshirt year he endured with the Bearcats, the work he put in to become the second-leading scorer in school history behind Oscar Robertson, and the disappointment over not getting drafted last summer despite his glowing credentials.
There would be time for those thoughts later. At that moment, he was simply trying to survive, to hold his own in a difficult situation and make an impression that would matter down the road.
"When the time comes, it's really there for you to perform," Kilpatrick said. "I wasn't looking back as soon as I got my opportunity."
Kilpatrick played just over 10 minutes in his first NBA game, a 95-92 Minnesota victory over the Knicks. He took only one shot, which he missed, and grabbed one rebound. During his four games with the Wolves, he would average 5.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 18 minutes per game. He made seven of 20 field goal attempts and four of 13 from 3-point range.
"It was totally new to me," Kilpatrick said. "I had never been in a situation like that before. They understood that, but said, you're here for a reason. Make the best of your situation."
His most productive game was a 13-point effort at Utah on March 23 when he went 4-for-7 from 3-point range in a 106-104 Minnesota victory.
"I think it was more being comfortable, but also I had great teammates," Kilpatrick said. "I was able to connect on a lot of levels with Ricky Rubio and Kevin Martin. Every time I got the ball, Martin would say if you've got the open shot take it. Don't be afraid to take the open shot. Everyone here knows that you can score and you can shoot. I did that a lot. I was a guy that wasn't on a lot of teams' scouting reports. I was a new guy so they left me open and I was able to hit the shots."'
Kilpatrick tried to soak up as much knowledge as he could. He worked out regularly with Garnett and was impressed by his work ethic. He learned that players have to work on their individual skills to stay sharp when they're not involved in team practices because with an 82-game regular season schedule, practices are much shorter than they were in college, often lasting only 45 minutes.
He's convinced that he made a positive impression on the Timberwolves, but he won't really know until he finds out where he'll play this summer and then next fall.
"Once they released me they told me they would love to have me on their summer league team and in training camp because they saw how hard I was working and what I can do on the court," Kilpatrick said.
After he learned on March 29 that the Wolves were not going to renew his contract, Kilpatrick returned to Delaware for the final two games of the D-League regular season. He scored 26 points in his first game back.
"When you get a taste of the NBA and come back to the D-League your confidence is a lot higher," he said.
At this point, Kilpatrick isn't sure what's in store for him next year. He's back home in White Plains working on putting together a summer camp in Cincinnati that's scheduled from June 29 to July 1. His agent has told him that his brief time in the league has generated interest from other NBA teams, but it remains to be seen how much. He will almost surely play in the NBA Summer League.
Now that he has played in the NBA, he's more determined than ever to get back there for good. And more confident that's where he belongs.
"I know I am an NBA player," he said. "All the people that supported me, they know that I'm an NBA player and they know that I should have been drafted. Now it's a different mindset. You've known me for the past six years. I'm not giving up."
Bill Koch covered UC Athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of GoBEARCATS.com in January, 2015 as featured columnist. Follow him on Twitter @bkoch.