The NBA took Election Night off on Tuesday, but one of the funniest moments of the season took place the night before on Monday. But in order to hear it, you had to be listening to the Charlotte Hornets broadcast in the final minutes of a blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves to hear the reaction of the announcers when rookie Rob Dillingham checked into the game.
Of course, if you were watching at that point you would have to be a really hardcore Hornets fan or had some kind of wager was still hanging in the balance. Or you just wanted to see if Eric Collins would say something entertaining as he is known to do. Thankfully that did happen.
With just a few minutes to go in garbage time, Dillingham entered the game. It was only his second appearance for the Timberwolves this season as the franchise is clearly taking it slow with the 8th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. But when he took to the floor, Dillingham received a rousing standing ovation from the home crowd in Minneapolis – one that Collins simply could not believe.
Rob Dillingham ovation pic.twitter.com/Ydstsrc127
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) November 5, 2024
“What the heck did he ever do… really? Good Golly! He’s played before?! He actually played in one game, hasn’t scored,” Collins said in an astonished tone.
The simultaneously incredulous and bemused reaction is hilarious as he literally can’t fathom why Rob Dillingham is getting cheered like Michael Jordan in his comeback game from retirement. But hey, God bless the Minnesota Timberwolves fans for cheering for their rookie and supporting him so passionately. Dillingham even rewarded them with the first points in his NBA career.
And when Rob Dillingham eventually becomes an All-NBA selection and a future Hall of Famer, we’ll all be able to look back at this clip as the bulletin board material that started it all.
