Conley becomes second player in Wolves history to win Teammate of the Year honors
Minneapolis/St. Paul – The NBA today announced Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley has been named the 2023-24 NBA Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year. The annual award recognizes the NBA player who is deemed the best teammate based on his selfless play, his on and off-court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players and his commitment and dedication to his team. A panel of NBA Legends selected six players from each conference and all players voted for one overall winner.
This is Conley’s second career Teammate of the Year honor (2018-19 with the Memphis Grizzlies), and he becomes the second player in Timberwolves history to be named the NBA Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year (Jamal Crawford in 2017-18). He joins Jrue Holiday (3x) as the only players to win the Teammate of the Year award multiple times.
In his 17th NBA season, Conley appeared in 76 games (all starts), his most since playing in and starting in 80 games in 2012-13. This season, he averaged 11.4 points on 45.7% shooting, including a career-high 44.2% from deep, 2.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.16 steals and a career-low 1.3 turnovers per game. His 45.7% field goal percentage was the second highest in a single season in his career (2016-17: 46.0%). Conley is just the eighth player in NBA history (since 1967-68) aged 36 or older to shoot 44.0%+ from beyond the three-point line in a single season (min. 100 3PA). Conley's 179 made threes this season are the third most such made threes by a player 36 years or older in NBA history (since 1967-68).
The Timberwolves ended the 2023-24 season with a 56-26 record, the second-highest win total in franchise history. Minnesota secured the third seed in the Western Conference, marking the third consecutive year clinching a spot in the NBA Playoffs, the most consecutive seasons making the playoffs since eight straight appearances from 1996-2004. Minnesota won an NBA-best 37 games against Western Conference opponents, the most wins against the West in Timberwolves history. The Wolves led the Western Conference this season with 26 road victories, the second-most road wins in franchise history (27 in 2003-04). Minnesota finished the season 12-4 against Northwest Division opponents, tied for the most wins in team history against division foes (12 in 2021-22).
Maurice Stokes and Jack Twyman were friends and teammates on the Rochester/Cincinnati Royals from 1955 to 1958. In the last game of the 1957-58 regular season, Stokes suffered an on-court injury; he fell into a coma days later and was left permanently paralyzed. Diagnosed with posttraumatic encephalopathy, a brain injury that damaged his motor-control center, Stokes was supported for the rest of his life by Twyman, who became his legal guardian and advocate. Stokes died in 1970. In 2004, after years of lobbying by Twyman, Stokes was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Twyman, who was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1983, died in 2012.