Sean Kilpatrick was yanked out of professional basketball obscurity Thursday because, well, he was the closest competent guy around.
The desperately short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves inked Kilpatrick to a 10-day deal, and had him rush to their 95-92 overtime road win against the New York Knicks.
The newcomer got 10 minutes of burn in his NBA debut, going scoreless and grabbing one rebound.
Per the AP:
Sean Kilpatrick went from practicing with the Delaware 87ers of the NBA Development League to playing for the Timberwolves with a 10-day contract about 3 ½ hours later. He arrived in time to give them the league-mandated eight players in uniform for their game against the New York Knicks. […] “We had practice today to get ready to play one of the other D-League teams,” Kilpatrick said after the Timberwolves’ 95-92 overtime victory. “I didn’t think I was going to end up here. It’s kind of a blessing.”
Listing eight players on their injured list, the Wolves didn’t just need a player. They needed one who wouldn’t take long to get here. […] “We had to fulfill our rules, so we had to go find somebody that was within a train ride away,” Wolves coach Flip Saunders said.
Kilpatrick actually drove, arriving in the Wolves’ locker room at Madison Square Garden about 45 minutes before the start. He quickly introduced himself to guard Ricky Rubio, who joined the injured ranks Thursday with a sore right ankle. […] Kilpatrick is from New York — his parents, brother and sister were at the game — so he had no problem navigating his way in what took about 3 hours.
