TEST STORY

Sixteen hours after Donte DiVincenzo was lying on the Target Center hardwood, writhing in pain and clutching his right Achilles tendon with fans deathly quiet around him, he was in New York City under anesthesia as Dr. Martin O'Malley performed surgery to begin the daunting pathway back to health that every athlete must take after tearing their Achilles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=_HwZq3BvKUrAOBwC&v=t2OQ510H7mo&feature=youtu.be

“When he woke up [from surgery], he was so positive about everything,” Phil Booth, who played with DiVincenzo at Villanova, said. “He was so looking forward to tackling the rehab. It kind of changed the perspective when he came out so positive about the situation.”

DiVincenzo carries a fighter’s mentality whether he is on the court with the Minnesota Timberwolves, working out in the practice facility, or rolling around with his leg suspended on a scooter. It’s a mentality that every team — the Wolves included — should try to adopt.

They'll need to find ways to be like DiVincenzo as they open the season without him.

DiVincenzo was in full uniform, smiling as he sat in front of a microphone for his media day interview Monday afternoon. Nothing about him looked like a player rehabbing an injury that has kept him from doing what he has devoted his life to for over five months.

“I feel great,” DiVincenzo said. “Honestly, at this time – I think we are like five and a half months in – I couldn’t ask to be in a better spot mentally, physically, emotionally. I just feel really good. 

“As things progress, your confidence gains. And the biggest thing I’ve learned through this whole thing is the mental battle of everything. Just coming in every single day and winning the mental battle, and the physical will take care of itself.”

Last season, DiVincenzo was one of four NBA players who started in all 82 regular-season games. He was the constant in a season of ups and downs for a moody, immature Timberwolves team. DiVincenzo showed up to every game with a winning mindset, pushing his own results aside to make room for the team’s best interests. 

“The shot is not going to fall [for] all 82,” DiVincenzo said in April. “But what I tried to stay consistent in this year is one: being available, and two is the little things: diving on loose balls, defense. The kind of things that may not show up on the stat sheet. That is what got me through some of those games, some of those stretches where it’s just not falling. … But being available for all 82 means more to me than all of that.”

DiVincenzo took pride in being available for his team. Last season was the first time in his career that he played all 82 games.

But without warning, his right calf popped as he tried to corral a long rebound, and everything came crashing down. DiVincenzo went from playing every day to sitting in a dark tunnel where the next time he would be on the court was too far in the distance to see.

Five and a half months later, DiVincenzo is back on the court at Mayo Clinic Square. Chris Finch told Chad Hartman on WCCO last week that he’s progressing well and practicing at an eighth-grade level of intensity.

Finch thinks it is pretty likely that DiVincenzo returns this season. Tim Connelly is cautiously optimistic. DiVincenzo also said he wouldn't be putting in all the work he has this summer if his goal wasn't to play this year. And if or when that happens, DiVincenzo will join a new-look backcourt featuring a quarterbacking point guard in LaMelo Ball, who will fit seamlessly alongside DiVincenzo, a lights-out floor spacer.

Maybe DiVincenzo will return in March. Or maybe even sooner. Time will tell. In the meantime, DiVincenzo, the third-oldest player on Minnesota’s roster, is ready to take on a leadership role.

“Kind of be the bridge between the coaching staff and the players initially,” DiVincenzo said. “Just in constant communication. Constantly being the ear for these guys. Sometimes, you just want to get something off your chest and just leave it alone and then go forward from there. It doesn’t need to have a resolution every single day. Just being that for them and anything they need as the season evolves, because there is going to be different times during the year where I need someone to talk to.”

The Wolves will evolve through adversity this season. They are bound to have down moments as the new pieces work to fit together. Minnesota is transitioning from a team without a natural point guard that relied heavily on a 6’9” point forward as its primary passer to now a team that lacks size at that position and will be leaning on speed, smaller lineups, and a new floor general along with an athletic, non-shooting forward in Jonathan Kuminga.

All of those changes that the Wolves must work through early could derail their season. They absolutely cannot be a moody team again. They need to establish an identity that grinds through adversity with a consistent focus on team success, while prioritizing the smaller things when the offense isn't clicking, or players aren’t on the same page.

An identity very similar to DiVincenzo’s.

“The regular season is where you find your identity,” Finch said Monday. “And your identity is what carries you most nights, if nothing else. Your identity is what carries you.”

More than his shooting, the Wolves will miss DiVincenzo’s relentless, winning mindset. The same mindset that has allowed him to progress through his rehabs as well as he has this summer.

Last season, DiVincenzo showed up every game ready to do whatever it took for his team to finish on the winning side of the box score. The problem is that type of mindset was an outlier on the Wolves. 

But that can’t be the case this year. For as long as he is out — and even when he returns — the Wolves must try to emulate DiVincenzo’s fighter mindset. And if they can do that, their championship hopes this season will be as encouraging as DiVincenzo’s rehab has been this summer.