A 6,000-mile flight is nothing for this devout Timberwolves fan

May 24—ROCHESTER — It was one year spent in Minnesota that did it.

That was 1989-90, when Mitsuaki Ohno showed up in Rochester from Japan with his mom and dad, attending Kellogg Middle School that seventh-grade year. His father was doing a one-year rotation at the Rochester branch of IBM.

That also happened to be the inaugural season of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the franchise unveiling the first of a steady diet of decidedly losing teams. Ten years went by before the Wolves had their first above-.500 season.

That inaugural club, coached by Bill Musselman and featuring such forgettable players as Tyron Corbin, Tony Campbell and Pooh Richardson, finished 22-60, the 22 wins not for a lack of trying.

Ohno, a seventh-grader at the time, took note of that "effort" part and became hooked.

"The Wolves were an expansion team at the time and there were not many good players on the team," Ohno said. "But they played so hard. The (Chicago) Bulls were (starting) a dynasty then, with (Michael) Jordan and (Scottie) Pippen. Most people were cheering for them. But I was excited to be living in Minnesota, and it was exciting at the time to have teams like the Twins, Vikings and North Stars. But the Timberwolves were my favorite. I picked them because I love basketball itself, the way the game is played with speed and jumping and all of that height. So I followed the Timberwolves. They were our local team."

And he's never stopped following them. It doesn't matter that Ohno has spent the rest of his life living 6,000 miles away from Minnesota, in Japan.

He committed to the Wolves as a seventh grader. And 33 years later he is every bit as committed, now at age 46.

That's why he was spotted in Denver this past May 19 for Game 7 of the Wolves-Nuggets Western Conference semifinals, both teams' season on the brink.

Ohno, who is married, does just fine financially, working as an information technology person in Kawasaki, Japan, for a retail marketing company.

His salary has allowed him to keep up with his biggest passion — attending Timberwolves games. For the last 20 years, Ohno has made that marathon trip from Japan to Minnesota a tradition, attending about four Wolves games per season.

He's now been to two of their contests in the last week, flying into Denver for that Game 7 — a come-from-way-behind 98-90 win by Minnesota — and then spending the next two days in Rochester in order to attend Game 1 of the Wolves-Dallas Mavericks Western Conference Finals, that one in Minneapolis.

The flight from Japan to Denver cost him $2,500, then the game $500.

The time spent in Rochester cost him nothing. He stayed with his former Kellogg Middle School English teacher, Kaye Case, and her husband, Doug Case. He's been doing that for the last 20 years when he flies in for Wolves games.

"The Cases are good people to keep up with in life," Ohno said. "And Minnesota is a special place. That's why I keep coming back there."

And yes, his Wolves are just a little bit of a draw, too. . .

Game 7 of the Wolves-Denver series was one for the ages, and for someone as committed to a professional team as Ohno, it was glorious.

Minnesota trailed by 15 points at halftime and that grew to 20 a few minutes into the third quarter.

But there was a certain Japanese resident in attendance who had zero give-up in him.

"I never thought we were going to lose that game," said Ohno, who watched young Wolves star Anthony Edwards struggle in the first half, but figured that wouldn't last.

He was right. After a rough shooting first half by Edwards, he finished with a respectable 16 points and also added a crucial eight rebounds and seven assists.

Ohno's keeping the faith through Game 7 also had to do with where he was situated in Denver's Ball Arena. He was seated in the corner of the arena, on the lower level, not far from the Wolves bench. He was within earshot of the team's discussions during timeouts. He liked what he heard. There was no sense of panic or giving up from his lifelong favorite team.

"There was no complaining from them; they were just discussing to each other what they could do (for a better outcome)," Ohno said. "And I was surprised, (22-year-old) Anthony Edwards came to the bench and he was acting like a veteran player as he was talking to veteran players like (center Karl-Anthony) Towns. When I saw all of that, I thought, 'They can turn things around.'

"Then things gradually started to turn around, and my belief became bigger."

By the time the contest was done, Ohno had sat through the most thrilling and satisfying game of his life, the Timberwolves earning an unlikely eight-point win and a spot in the Western Conference finals for only the second time in their history.

Ohno didn't come away with the same satisfaction from Game 1 of those division finals, the Wolves looking exhausted and dropping a 108-105 decision to Dallas.

But Ohno's hopes were not shaken. He believes Minnesota will still win the series.

"I think we'll definitely beat Dallas," Ohno said.

And if they do, he's got a plan.

A trip to the NBA Finals by the Wolves would include a trip by Ohno from Japan back to his adopted state of Minnesota.

"My wife is supportive of me in this," Ohno said. "She knows the Wolves are my main pleasure in life."