The Minnesota Timberwolves will play the visiting Brooklyn Nets at 4 p.m. ET without fans. The rare weekday matinee tilt comes after Monday’s game was postponed following the police shooting of Daunte Wright.
Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, died Sunday after a police officer shot him in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center during a traffic stop. The Brooklyn Center police chief said the shooting was accidental, as the officer involved intended to fire a stun gun and not a handgun during a struggle with Wright. Police were trying to arrest him on an outstanding warrant.
The Wolves’ matchup was one of several games postponed in the state of Minnesota on Monday.
The Minnesota Twins were to open their series against the visiting Boston Red Sox with a Monday afternoon game, but that was postponed. Instead, the teams will play Tuesday afternoon at 2:10 p.m. ET, with Monday’s game being made up on Wednesday as part of a doubleheader.
The Minnesota Wild also postponed their Monday night home game against the St. Louis Blues.
Wright died of a gunshot wound to the chest, and his death was ruled as a homicide, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office. Homicide is defined as the killing of one person by another.
The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating the shooting, identified the officer who shot Wright as Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran who has been placed on administrative leave.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced a curfew from 7 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday for the three counties that include Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis and the capital of St. Paul. The Wolves and Twins play in Minneapolis, while the Wild play in St. Paul.
Security around downtown Minneapolis already has been heightened because of the trial of Derek Chauvin, whose knee prosecutors say was pressed on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as the unarmed Black man was handcuffed and pinned to the pavement on May 25, 2020.
Floyd’s death sparked a summer of unrest and a national reckoning over racial injustice that was felt poignantly and painfully in Minneapolis. Chauvin’s trial at the county government center is about eight blocks from the Twins’ Target Field.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
