Timberwolves Pitch Washington Teen On Fandom
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - A Seattle teen got the treatment most fans would dream of Friday night at the Minnesota Timberwolves game.
Sixteen-year-old Connor Urcuyo lost his hometown team when the Seattle Sonics moved to Oklahoma.
He wanted to know which new team he should support so he wrote to each of the NBA's 30 teams.
He said only the Wolves responded with reasons he should be a fan.
The letter went viral and while the Wolves season may have left much to be desired for some fans, the team's newest fan got more than he expected.
Urcuyo spent weeks writing letters to every NBA team, but he didn't tell his mother what he was up to.
"I kept wondering," Gina Urcuyo said. "He kept coming to me. He said, 'Mom, I need some stamps. Mom, I need some stamps.'"
Wolves president Chris Wright was impressed by how Urcuyo personalized and hand-wrote the letters and knew he had a potential fan he wanted in his court.
"He talked about Andrew Wiggins, he talked about Levine, he talked about KG," Wright said.
Wright wrote back with 10 reasons Urcuyo should be a part of the pack.
When the letter went viral, the team thanked Urcuyo for the exposure by flying him in and giving him a real front-row seat to all things Wolves, on and off the court.
He said it was all happening so fast that the whole family couldn't help but try and get everything on camera.
But becoming a true superfan is a feeling Urcuyo said pictures can't quite capture, but one he'll certainly never forget.
"Being here screaming and having all the fans screaming -- it's amazing," he said.
Urcuyo is also spending the day in town Saturday and hanging out with more players.
He even stopped by WCCO-TV to chat with Natalie Nyhus and Matt Brickman on the Saturday Morning show!