The Minnesota Twins and Timberwolves have rescheduled home games postponed on Monday after Daunte Wright, a Black man, was fatally shot by a police officer in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb, on Sunday.
The Twins will play Tuesday’s 1:10 p.m. CT game against the Red Sox as scheduled and makeup Monday’s game as part of a doubleheader against Boston on Wednesday.
After consulting with local and state officials, the Timberwolves chose to reschedule Monday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets for Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m. CT at Target Center.
The Wild, who also postponed their game on Monday against the Blues, have rescheduled the contest for May 12. In addition, the NHL moved the Wild’s game against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday to 1 p.m. CT. It was originally scheduled for 8 p.m. CT.
The mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Jacob Frey and Melvin Carter, each set a 7 p.m. curfew for the cities on Monday.
“This decision was made in the best interests of our fans, employees, players and community after discussions with local and state officials, and the National Hockey League,” the Wild said in a statement on Monday.” … The Minnesota Wild extends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Daunte Wright.”
The Twins said they consulted with MLB as well as local and state officials to reach the decision.
“Our community has been through a lot,” Twins team president Dave St. Peter said. “We have a trial taking place just blocks away from Target Field. Emotions across our community, emotions across our organization are raw. Based on the events of the last 24 hours and as information has started to come to light, playing a baseball game today felt a little less important. When you add a level of public safety to that, particularly the safety for fans, our players, our staff, again we thought the decision we made today was the right call. History will maybe tell us otherwise. But today, this moment, we’re pretty confident we’re doing the right thing.”
Several coaches across the NBA spoke about the shooting and supported the postponement of Monday’s games.
“I think it was the correct decision, just based on what’s going on in Minneapolis and the surrounding areas,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said, also referencing the ongoing trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer charged with the murder of George Floyd in May 2020.
“It just makes you sick to your stomach,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “How many times does it have to happen? … How many young Black kids have to be killed for no frickin’ reason — how many — so that we can empower the police unions?”
“I think we gotta stop saying it’s frustrating for all Black Americans,” 76ers coach Doc Rivers said. “I think it should be frustrating for all Americans.”
Also on Monday, Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks chose to sit out of his team’s game against Toronto in the wake of the shooting.
“With all that’s going on in Minneapolis, he’s having a tough time right now,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Had a conversation in my office, and he just felt like it was best to not be in the starting lineup tonight. And I certainly support that and we’ll try to rally around him the best we can. Obviously, the situation is heartbreaking right now in Minneapolis. And I think it has hit Aaron particularly hard.”
