It was the hardest game, perhaps, of Mike Conley’s career. Just traded to the Utah Jazz months prior after spending the first 12 years of his NBA career in Memphis, the point guard returned to Memphis to take on his former team. The on-court results were not great. “I don’t think I made a shot,” Conley said. “May have made two or three.” Five, actually. But 5-for-19 shooting from the field is not great, so the point stands. The performance was justified by the circumstances surrounding the game. Conley called that day “crazy.” “I saw every usher, every person I dap up before the game, and I talked to everybody,” Conley said. “I don’t think I even went through my warmups. I was making my rounds, talking to every coach, every player, all the fans. There was a lot of fans I saw that I would see every single day that we were there. There was a lot. It was a lot. We had a lot of family there. It was just a mess, but it was crazy.” Karl-Anthony Towns can expect something similar Thursday when he makes his return to Minnesota at Target Center. No two players know what he’s about to endure better than former Wolves teammates Conley and Rudy Gobert, who also opened their careers with long stints at one home before heading elsewhere via offseason trade. Towns spent nine years in Minnesota prior to the stunning trade in September that sent him to New York to play for the Knicks. Gobert was in Utah for nine years before he was dealt to Minnesota. Gobert said Thursday will be an “emotional moment” for Towns. “I remember my first time coming back (to Utah), it was very special,” Gobert said. And, yet, weird. Gobert walked into Utah’s arena for the first time as a visitor in 2022 and witnessed areas of the bowels he had never seen before. “Being so used to that routine of walking in and going to the areas that we go to at home. But coming from being on the road, that experience is always different,” Gobert said. “I remember that first time, it was like, ‘This is what the (visiting) locker room looks like?’ It was weird for me not to keep going to the end of the tunnel.” And Towns will, of course, be introduced in the visiting lineup pregame, rather than under the spotlight that the Wolves’ starters receive ahead of every game. But he’s also sure to receive a lengthy tribute video that acknowledges and thanks him for his contributions to the team and community, of which there have been so many. Conley noted fans will be “piling in” to see the man who served as their favorite player for years, through good times and bad. “He’ll have to do a lot of talking, seeing a bunch of familiar faces, brings back a bunch of memories, I’m sure,” Conley said. “It’s tough, but you try to keep it at basketball as much as you can. At some point during that game, there’s gonna be an emotional attachment to it that’s hard to explain.” Because, as Gobert noted, “it’s beyond basketball.” Minnesota is home for Towns. The big man entrenched himself in the organization and, more broadly, the state. “I think KAT has done some cool things here in the community,” Gobert said. “For me in Utah, it was more about that than the basketball. Obviously, you give your blood, sweat and tears to an organization for many, many years. But it’s also the community. And, for me, the similarity, a community that embraced me, a team that embraced me and all the great people from the staff, the people from the arena, the people from the community that kind of watched you grow over the years, watched you evolve as a man, as a player. It’s a lot of memories, a lot of ups and downs of being part of an NBA team, an organization.” Those are all things that you experience on a daily basis while you’re in the midst of your season and career, but don’t often have the chance to reflect upon when you’re in the moment. Returning to a place where you gave so much of your time and self provides the rare opportunity to look back and appreciate what was. Conley said the love and admiration he received in his first game back in Memphis was truly humbling. “You look back at it, you’re like, ‘Man, I miss that.’ I miss being at that function or being with (that) group of guys or that coach or being at that game. Game 7, whatever that moment is for you, it’s just amplified,” Conley said. “That’s where the emotion builds up. It was a good ride. It brings back a lot of good memories.” And, Gobert said, reunions like Thursday are a good reminder that “nothing lasts forever.” “That was the one thing for me. Sometimes you can feel it, but most of the time, you never know when it’s going to be the last season playing with these guys, the last season playing in this building,” he said. “It pushes you to appreciate every moment.” Timberwolves big men Karl-Anthony Towns, left, and Rudy Gobert walk on the court during a game against Dallas on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bailey Hillesheim) Related Articles Minnesota Timberwolves | Charley Walters: Vikings’ Darnold on verge of cashing in big time Minnesota Timberwolves | A look at Timberwolves’ potential roster and rotation after KAT trade Minnesota Timberwolves | Timberwolves trade Karl-Anthony Towns to Knicks for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick Minnesota Timberwolves | Timberwolves all-star Karl-Anthony Towns to help create ‘state-of-the-art’ basketball facility in Dominican Republic