Typically, in the group chat with his brothers, Tom Welle keeps the focus on all things related to the Minnesota Wild. They use the group chat as a way to celebrate the result of a game, vent about a player’s performance or opine about a trade rumor they’ve heard. In the past month or so, however, the subject matter has completely shifted.

To the Minnesota Timberwolves, of all things.

“I keep pinging them asking if they’re watching the Timberwolves,” said Welle, 58, who grew up in Paynesville, Minn. “We’ve been the biggest fans of hockey for, like, 50 years, and now we’re all watching basketball. I never would’ve guessed it. There’s something about this team.”

There are similar stories across the state.

As the Timberwolves continue their playoff run on Wednesday night against the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals, the bandwagon has grown seemingly by the minute. This particular group of players has given diehard fans a reason to believe while capturing a whole new group of people in the process.

That includes lifelong hockey fans who recently have turned into temporary basketball junkies.

You’ve got Jessi Pierce, a beat writer covering the Wild, who suddenly cares more about the local team on the other side of the river.

“This playoff run has been so fun,” said Pierce, 36, who grew up in Mahtomedi. “I didn’t even know my husband knew anything about basketball and suddenly he’s coming home like, ‘We’ve got to watch the Timberwolves!’ We’ve both kind of latched on. We admit to hopping on the bandwagon.”

You’ve got Kirsten Krull, an in-arena host for the Wild, who also proudly admits to hopping on the bandwagon.

“I’ve never intensely followed the Timberwolves before,” said Krull 27, who grew up in Rochester, Minn. “I’d say I’m more of a causal fan who has gotten really, really into it during the playoff run, and I’m having a great time right now, like everybody else.”

You’ve got Todd Davis, a former North Stars fan and current Wild fan, who tuned in late into Game 7 between the Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets only after checking the score on his CBS Sports app on his iPhone.

“I thought to myself, ‘Well, if they’re going to win, I might as well watch,’ ” said Davis, 55, who grew up in St. Paul. “As soon as I turned it on, they went up by 10 points and obviously they ended up winning. This is really exciting for Minnesota. We don’t get a lot to cheer about very often.”

That seems to be the common thread among everybody following the Timberwolves throughout the playoff run. There is a belief that they can win the NBA championship. It has brought people together at local breweries, neighborhood dive bars, and finished basements alike.

“To see the way in which we’re bringing people together, honestly, it gives me goosebumps,” said Ryan Tanke, Chief Operating Officer of the Timberwolves. “It really speaks to the power of sports and its ability to do that.”

Maybe the coolest thing about the playoff run besides what’s happening on the court has been watching the diehard fans embrace the people wanting to join in on the fun. There’s no animosity from the OGs who have suffered through the tough times with the franchise. Not when the current vibes surrounding the Timberwolves are so high.

You’ve got Jake Nyberg, a longtime Timberwolves fan who doesn’t blame anybody for jumping off the bandwagon.

“You break it down and sports are entertainment, right?” said Nyberg, 44, who grew up in Roseville. “If a movie is bad, the people in the crowd have every right to walk out. I don’t begrudge anybody for walking out at any point over the past 20 years. I’m just glad they’re back.”

You’ve got Steve Tran, a longtime Timberwolves fan, who has noticed some of his friends wanting now to strike up conversation about his favorite team.

“I feel like I’m a Sherpa guiding different people in,” said Tran, 40, who grew up in Woodbury. “It’s been a lot of fun for me as somebody who has been following the Timberwolves forever. It feels like everybody wants to be a part of it, and that’s really cool. All of us are craving a winner in Minnesota.”

You’ve got Barflaan Tedoe, a longtime Timberwolves fan, who has been trying to spread the love on social media.

“I’m down for anybody that wants to be cheer for them,” said Tedoe, 30, who grew up in Robbinsdale. “Why wouldn’t I be? I think part of a being a great organization is welcoming everybody and treating them like they’ve been here from the jump. We’re a big family when it comes down to it.”

As welcoming as the community has been over the past month or so, however, there does seem to be a self awareness among some of the lifelong hockey fans who have hopped on the bandwagon.

“I’m genuinely so happy for everybody that stuck around and endured all the heartache,” Pierce said. “You’ve got the diehard fans that have been around forever and they deserve this moment.”

No more than anybody else, according to Nyberg, who couldn’t care less if somebody has been cheering for the Timberwolves for a few decades or a few seconds.

“I’m here for all of it,” Nyberg said. “It’s not a bandwagon. It’s a party bus. Everybody get on because it’s going to be a fun ride.”

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West St. Paul residents are invited to a public meeting next month to discuss safety and connectivity improvements for South Robert Street.

The retail-heavy stretch between Mendota Road and Annapolis Street has been under the microscope for close to a decade and received a $42.5 million reconstruction that wrapped up in 2017 with the goal of improving mobility and safety.

“Despite those improvements, the section of roadway has seen continued safety concerns for users,” according to a news release from the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

A map showing a segment of South Robert Street/Minnesota 3 in West St. Paul being studied for safety improvements. The public is invited to a June 4 meeting to share feedback about the corridor from Mendota Road to Annapolis Street. (Courtesy of Minnesota Department of Transportation)

Where South Robert Street intersects with east Wentworth Avenue and east Butler Avenue has drawn attention for its transit and walking issues, according to an online comment map that is open to the public.

Other concerns from West St. Paul residents date to the 2017 reconstruction, which added medians and reduced left-turn options to increase safety. With fewer left turn opportunities, motorists are making more U-turns at traffic lights.

More U-turns are an expected result of more medians, Derek Leuer, a traffic safety engineer for MnDOT, told the Pioneer Press after the 2017 reconstruction. For a road like South Robert, which has lots of access points to businesses, medians reduce “conflict points” by restricting left-hand turns, which are generally considered unsafe, Leuer said.

Before the reconstruction, MnDOT had deemed it a high-crash corridor due to the number of crashes and their severity. Between 2005 and 2014, the corridor’s 23 intersections were the site of 1,025 crashes.

Between 2018 and 2022, there were 462 crashes at intersections located along the corridor, according to MnDOT, and an additional 146 crashes at other locations along South Robert Street.

Additional improvements sought

The latest study of the corridor, conducted by MnDOT, runs from February 2024 to February 2025 “to identify possible improvements to safety and connectivity for people who walk, bike, use transit and drive,” per the release.

The study, which costs $175,000, will coordinate with Metro Transit to prepare the corridor for the upcoming G Line arterial Bus Rapid Transit service as it will include new on-street transit stations.

The G Line is planned to run from Little Canada through downtown St. Paul and to the Dakota County Northern Service Center in West St. Paul, primarily along Rice and Robert Streets.

Construction of the G Line project is planned for 2026-28, with a goal of completing all work on Robert Street within the G Line corridor by the end of 2028, according to the G Line project page.

South Robert Street information meeting

The public is invited to share their feedback at 6 p.m. June 4 at the Wentworth Library, located at 199 E. Wentworth Ave.

For those unable to attend the meeting, the online comment map will be open until June 9 at mndothwy3srobertststudy.com.

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T-rex, brontosaurus and velociraptors, oh my! From this Friday until Sept. 29, Como Town at the Como Zoo is hosting some prehistoric guests — the Dinosaur Expedition.

The exhibit will be open daily May 24 to Sept. 2 and on the weekends Sept. 7 to Sept.  29 from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., tickets are $14 to take a trip to the past for all ages.

The exhibition was installed this month. It will give visitors a view of “true-to-life” animatronic dinosaurs. The realistic animatronics range from 28 feet tall to more than 60 feet long.

The Dinosaur Expedition is by reservation only, which can be made online at comotown.com.

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Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic sat at his press conference after the Denver Nuggets was bounced from the NBA playoffs in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals by Minnesota and listed off the many forces on the Timberwolves’ roster.

Multiple all-stars, multiple all-defense players, the Sixth Man of the Year.

But Jokic only expounded his thoughts on one player: veteran point guard Mike Conley.

“He’s the most underrated player in the NBA, probably,” Jokic said. “I love the guy. He is so good.”

Jokic noted Conley “always makes the right play,” and added that he noticed at one point in Game 7, Conley was the Timberwolves’ leading rebounder.

Whatever it takes to win. That has been Conley’s calling card throughout his career.

The 36-year-old will make any sacrifice to win at a high level, and has not hidden his desire to finally claim an NBA championship — the one box left to check on his lengthy resume.

Just in these playoffs alone, the point guard is knocking out firsts — he completed his first playoff sweep in Round 1. In the conference semis, he notched his first Game 7 victory.

Asked what’s next, Conley said simply to “win a game in the conference finals.”

Indeed, he made one previous trip to this stage — in 2013 with Memphis. The Grizzlies were swept by the San Antonio Spurs.

That was 11 years ago.

It’s stunning a guard who plays such a winning brand of basketball could have been denied such a stage for more than a decade. There have been numerous close calls derailed by injuries or juggernauts.

“We always, my teams have always kinda ran into that wall in the first, second round,” Conley said. “We’d end up playing against Jokic or the Spurs or somebody, and they’d knock us out. We were just never able to get over that hump.”

So, Conley was never able to take center stage. Outside of playoff success, the NBA limelight is often reserved for the teams in big cities. Everyone watches the Lakers and Knicks countless times every season.

Conley has played in Memphis, Utah and Minnesota, not exactly major markets. The other way to gain notoriety, though, is through playoff performance. The further you advance, the more attention you get. At some point, when there are only so many teams still in the fight, there is only one direction to aim the spotlight.

Perhaps the lack of postseason success is why Conley has gone overlooked for so long. As nice as Jokic’s comments were, “most underrated player” isn’t a title you exactly want to carry. It’s more preferred to be given the respect and celebration you deserve.

But over the next week-plus, as the Western Conference finals — which begin Wednesday evening in Minneapolis — play out, Conley’s impact and abilities will be undeniable. There will be no overlooking Minnesota’s stabilizer, who both conducts the show and often prevents the Timberwolves from short-circuiting.

His playmaking, quick defensive hands and knack for knocking down big shots will all be made under the nation’s watchful eye as Minnesota-Dallas serves as the only show in town on a nightly basis.

It’s likely that Conley plays a major role in multiple Wolves’ victories in this series. If he does, Charles Barkley will likely point it out. And, when Chuck speaks, the nation listens.

On top of being the very best, Jokic may be the most cerebral player in the NBA. If he says you’re a great player, then you are, even if others fail to recognize as much.

You want respect for your greatness? Win at the highest level. Sometimes, that’s the only solution.

Conley’s lone all-star appearance to date came in the 2020-21 season when his Utah team finished as the No. 1 seed in the West.

Winning truly is the ultimate cure.

Frankly, Rudy Gobert doesn’t think Conley ever will get his proper due.

“But I think a championship would definitely put some respect on his name a little more, and when you win, there’s nothing people can say at the end of the day,” Gobert said. “I know how bad he wants to win, and I know how much he means to this team, to this group, so I just want it really bad for him too. He’s 36 now, so he’s the one that’s probably the most aware of how precious these moments are and these opportunities are, and he’s showing it every day in practice and on the court.”

Make no mistake, Conley’s motivation at the moment is a championship. But something else he’s never quite had — the acknowledgement of just how good he truly has been over his career, and still is today — would be a likely byproduct of his primary pursuit.

“Postseason success is so big for people and their view of how you are as a player, if you’re a winner or not,” Conley said. “I’ve always tried to play winning basketball, but this year I’m trying to also do that, and actually win at the same time.”

Seventeen years in, there’s still time to check boxes, and potentially rewrite the narrative.

“It’s not too late,” Conley said as he exited his media availability Tuesday. “It’s not too late.”

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