Minnesota's own Chet Holmgren helps Oklahoma Thunder win NBA title

NINA MOINI: Well, there wasn't a Minnesota team, the Timberwolves, in the NBA Finals, but there was a Minnesotan. The winner of game 7 was the Oklahoma City Thunder, which includes Minnesota's own Chet Holmgren. And on the women's side, the Lynx are dominating the start of the season, of course, but we're going to start our weekly sports check-in with Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson with the Twins. How are you guys doing? I'm getting very excited.

ERIC NELSON: Happy Monday, Nina.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, Nina, I don't know that there's a lot to be excited about the Twins right now, but just the same, it's a long season.

NINA MOINI: Well, I say that because we're going to be-- I'm going to be joining you guys for a game tonight.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yes.

ERIC NELSON: Yeah.

NINA MOINI: A Twins game, my first in a long, long time. We're going to do an Out to Lunch, but it's going to be more of a late lunch at the ballpark. So I'm really looking forward to it. That's why I was excited, actually, for the snacks. So you guys will have to clue me in.

ERIC NELSON: Fair enough.

NINA MOINI: But the Twins, with their kind of losing record, they've lost more games than they've won after that last series against the Milwaukee Brewers. So what do they need to do to snap out of the slump, Wally? And will I be their good luck charm? Probably not.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, they're hoping so. I got a memo from them this morning. So it said that you're the good luck charm.

NINA MOINI: I'm sure.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Look, they have now lost 13 of their last 16. And not so ironically, that's how long star pitcher Pablo Lopez has been out with an injury that will keep him sidelined until at least early September. Now, he only pitches when he's around once every five days, but it really has affected their pitching staff.

Prior to the injury, the Twins were 34 and 27. They are now 37 wins and 40 losses. They have dropped into fourth place in the American League Central. They're 11 games behind first place Detroit, and now 2 and 1/2 games behind second-place Cleveland, and the final wild card playoff spot in the American League.

Let's not forget that back in May, the Twins won 13 straight games. And that was the second-longest winning streak in team history. They went from seven games below .500 to six games above. So it's not over by a long shot, Nina.

But the pitching needs to get better. I think that's number one on the list. The hitting is going to come and go, but the pitching has to be better. They have given up 9 runs or more seven times in the last 16 games. That just can't continue for them to start winning baseball games consistently, no question.

NINA MOINI: OK. Well, maybe tonight will be the night, Eric, because we'll all be there, of course, for Out to Lunch, which is going to air next week. Folks can catch it then, but we're going to be there tonight, of course, for the Seattle Mariners game. What are you expecting for tonight's game, Eric?

ERIC NELSON: Well, Seattle's a pretty good team, Nina. The Mariners are 39 and 37. And they have their eyes on the playoffs as well. So this is going to be another tough opponent for the Twins. Seattle is second place in the American League West behind Houston.

If you're going to the ballpark tonight, I think a lot of the focus is going to be on this young catcher the Mariners have. His name is Cal Raleigh, also known as the Big Dumper.

NINA MOINI: Oh!

ERIC NELSON: He has the most home runs in Major League Baseball with 31.

NINA MOINI: Yikes!

ERIC NELSON: Yeah. You can draw your own conclusions on how he got that nickname. He hit four taters over the weekend against the Chicago Cubs down at Wrigley Field. And if you're wondering, the record for the most home runs before the All-Star break, which is still three weeks away, is 39 by Barry Bonds in 2001.

NINA MOINI: Wow.

ERIC NELSON: And that's the same year he hit 73 home runs, a single season Major League Baseball record. And ironically, Raleigh is actually from North Carolina.

NINA MOINI: Whoa.

ERIC NELSON: Although, he grew up in Cullowhee, which is 4.5 hours from Raleigh, North Carolina. But he's very good defensively. He won a Gold Glove last season for Seattle.

And the manager of the Mariners, if you're a Gopher baseball fan, you remember the legendary Dan Wilson. He played catcher for the U of M a few years ago. And he took over as the Mariners skipper last August. So if there's any reason to go out tonight, I would say it's to see Cal Raleigh. He's on a record-setting pace.

NINA MOINI: OK. Well, I'm excited for that. Taters, dumpers, I'm excited for all the slang. I'm going to pick it up. Tonight's my night.

Well, let's switch over to the NBA Finals, because that was exciting, Oklahoma City Thunder versus the Indiana Pacers. And as I mentioned, Chet Holmgren helped the team win the title, Wally. We have interviewed Larry Suggs, Chet's former coach on the show before, who talked a lot about him. So I actually know quite a bit about him. But tell me what it kind of was about him that helped him win that title, Wally.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, he's 7 feet 1 inch tall.

NINA MOINI: Yeah.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: I mean, let's start right there.

NINA MOINI: Helpful.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: His dad, David Holmgren, was a 7-footer, played for the Gophers, played at the University of Minnesota from 1984 to '88. But yeah, his talent has been-- we've been aware of his talent for a long time. And as you mentioned, he played at Minnehaha Academy, and then went on to Gonzaga, and now helped lead Oklahoma City to their first-ever NBA title last night. They won. They beat Indiana 103-91.

Youth is served last night. Oklahoma City is the youngest team in the NBA this year, with an average age of just over 24 years old at the start of the year. And they're the second youngest team to ever win the title.

As for Chet, last night he had a really good game-- 18 points, 8 rebounds. But here's a stat that hasn't been talked about much-- 5 blocked shots. His five blocks set a new NBA record for blocked shots in game 7 of an NBA Finals.

NINA MOINI: Wow!

WALLY LANGFELLOW: A really nice night for Chet. Former Wolves great, Kevin Garnett, along with Marvin Webster, held the previous record of four blocked shots in a game 7. Garnett did it, of course, for the Boston Celtics because the Wolves have never reached the NBA Finals before. But congratulations, obviously, to OKC for winning the title last night, once again, 103 to 91.

NINA MOINI: And the NBA draft then is coming up later this week. What are you expecting to see from the Timberwolves, Eric?

ERIC NELSON: Yeah. That draft is on Wednesday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Well, the Timberwolves have the 17th and 31st selections in round one. So they're not going to get a so-called blue chipper. But you never know. They may find a sleeper. I thought they did very well last year with Rob Dillingham and TJ Shannon.

So their general manager, Tim Conley, has a reputation for being able to find talent. And really, the 2025/26 roster will start to take shape with the draft. And then a week from today, June 30, when free agency begins in the NBA, Minnesota has decisions to make, Nina. Do they keep Julius Randle, Naz Reid, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who is the cousin of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA Finals MVP and the overall MVP for Oklahoma City.

All three of those guys, they have to make decisions. And they probably won't be able to bring them all back. They're listed as three of the top 15 free agents in the Association. Do the Timberwolves go out and chase somebody else and try to make a blockbuster trade?

We know one thing. They're not going to get Kevin Durant. The 15-time All-Star is not coming to Minnesota. He was dealt by Phoenix to Houston in a whopper deal that brought Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the number 10 pick in this year's draft, five second round picks, and I think even an oil well to the Phoenix Suns. I mean, Houston is giving up a lot to get Durant.

Now, I also should mention the Minnesota Lynx. They have a 12 and 1 record. They are on top of the WNBA ahead of the New York Liberty, last year's champions. They had a convincing win against the LA Sparks on Saturday at Target Center. The Lynx, Nina, back on the hardwood Tuesday night in Washington. They'll play the Mystics in downtown DC.

And they hope to get Napheesa Collier back. She's an MVP candidate. She's had a bulging disk in her back. And she's missed the last two games for the Minnesota Lynx against Las Vegas and Los Angeles. But clearly, big picture, they've got to get feedback on the floor if they're going to do the things they think they're going to do. And that's win their fifth title.

NINA MOINI: Sure And so, lastly, we just have a couple of minutes left, but it was Grandma's Marathon in Duluth over the weekend. It was super hot. Participants there ran, of course, 26.2 miles. No surprise, Wally, I was not there. But who were the winners?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: I'll say this. These folks running in that heat-- I mean, I got tired walking to my car, let alone--

NINA MOINI: I know it.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: --running 26.2 miles. It's unbelievable. But Joel Reichow of White Bear Lake, he became just the fourth Minnesotan to win the men's title. He finished in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 58 seconds. He beat second place finisher Sammy Rotich of Kenya by 46 seconds. He was the first Minnesota winner since Chris Raabe of Sauk Rapids did it back in 2009. Dick Beardsley of Wayzata did it back in 1981 and '82.

Oh, by the way, Joel Reichow collected $11,500 for his victory, including a $1,500 bonus for finishing faster than 2 hours and 12 minutes. And he did that by 2 seconds. So it was a $1,500 sprint he had at the end there to get the extra $1,500.

NINA MOINI: Wow!

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, kind of interesting.

NINA MOINI: An amazing feat.

ERIC NELSON: Nina.

NINA MOINI: Yeah.

ERIC NELSON: Despite that heat, they had 7,530 runners finish the marathon. I think that's another impressive stat, because if you're a runner, specifically a marathon runner, you want the cool cats--

NINA MOINI: Oh, yeah.

ERIC NELSON: --50's and the 60's. You don't want that heat dome that we had over Minnesota for four days.

NINA MOINI: No. Huge congrats to everybody who completed Grandma's, and huge congrats to us because we get to hang out tonight at the Twins-Mariners game.

ERIC NELSON: Can't wait!

NINA MOINI: So I'll see you guys then. Thank you both so much.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: See you then.

ERIC NELSON: Have a good one.