The Minnesota Timberwolves had themselves a busy offseason as they deal with daily Kevin Love rumours sandwiched between almost daily criticizing of the franchise as a whole, the coaching staff and previous general manager’s regimes. Despite the negative press leading up to the now completed Love for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and Thaddeus Young deal; the Wolves not only made the most of their highly coveted asset but they parlayed the whole situation into a positive for Minnesota basketball as a whole.

The good feelings in the state continued as the Timberwolves hosted a ‘Dunks After Dark’ scrimmage / dunk fest at the University of Minnesota Taylor Hall building. Students and fans packed the arena for what promises to be the first but not the last of such basketball exhibitions. The atmosphere was akin to Midnight Madness for NCAA season tip-off as the predominantly student crowd fueled on caffeine and adrenaline made for a raucous environment.

The Timberwolves kicked the exhibition off by scrimmaging full-court and it didn’t take long for the fans to see what they all came for. The first bucket of the night, and certainly a play that Wolves fans are hoping to see a lot more of, was a Ricky Rubio led fastbreak culminating in a lob dunk for Andrew Wiggins. Fitting start to the event as Wiggins is the showcase player and he set to it right off the start by getting the fans off their seats and into the action.

The highlight of the night was billed as the ‘Dunks after Dark’ which featured Zach Lavine, Wiggins and Glenn Robinson III. This competition lived up to every bit of the hype as each ridiculous dunk was as impressive as the next. While no official champion was crowned it was clear that LaVine is an absolutely gifted leaper who can do some crazy things while airborne.

The true winners of the night were both the basketball fans who witnessed this exhibition and the Minnesota Timberwolves organization who created great fan participation and publicity.