D-Leaguers pull off the shocker

They are the least celebrated team at the NBA Summer League, yet the
D-League Select squad made a name for itself Monday with a stunning 96-91
upset of the Minnesota Timberwolves in Cox Pavilion.

The Wolves, who have several guaranteed contracts on their summer league
roster, struggled to hang with the no-name D-Leaguers who didn’t even have
their names on the backs of their jerseys. But they proved they had game as
they outworked their NBA opponent and even though they never got a call
from the refs (more on that in a moment), they still managed to get it done
in their summer league debut.

Meanwhile, what do you say if you’re a Minnesota player and you’re getting
texts and tweets from your friends about getting punked by a bunch of
D-League scrubs?

The only Timberwolf who can hold his head up is Wayne Ellington. He showed
up strong Monday, scoring 22 points. When we do our daily Studs and Duds
later today, you can count on the Timberwolves being represented in the Dud
category.

Conspiracy theory

O.K., David Stern will love this: Did the refs try to deliberately screw
the D-Leaguers to save the Timberwolves the embarrassment of being beaten
by them?

Conventional wisdom would say yes. But in the NBA, ulterior motives always
abound. Maybe they wanted the D-League guys to win and give the league a
credibility boost.

They can say, “Hey, our D-League guys can hang with the NBA.” Well, no,
they can’t. because if the real Minnesota Timberwolves were playing, this
wouldn’t have been close.

Hey, just messing with you, David. We know all your refs are above board in
the post-Donaghy Era.

The other Griffin

While everyone anxiously awaits Blake Griffin’s summer league debut at
5:30, his older brother Taylor is about to make his debut as the Phoenix
Suns face Dallas.

Taylor Griffin was a second-round pick of the Suns and he has a lot to
prove here. Unlike his kid brother, his NBA future is anything but
guaranteed.