As Lauren Holiday, Jrue’s wife, recently recalled after the latter’s transfer by the Bucks, transfers are trials for basketball players. Especially for those who have a family.
Mike Conley can attest to this. Last February, after three and a half years spent in Utah, the leader was sent to Minneapolis. In the middle of the school year, the leader then decided to leave his wife, Mary, and his three sons aged 6, 4 and 2 in Salt Lake City, the complete move of the family not being planned until the summer.
It must be said that Mike Conley’s 2023/24 season was not completely guaranteed, and the basketball player was therefore not sure of staying long term with the Wolves.
Rudy Gobert, first happy
But the 36-year-old quickly established himself, both in the locker room and on the pitch, with Wolves. His arrival particularly delighted Rudy Gobert, very happy to find his former friend from Utah.
“One of the things I’m really grateful for is that Mike came here.”, explains Rudy Gobert. “The presence, the impact he has, not only on the pitch, but especially in the dressing room… The way he behaves, you might think that it doesn’t really have an impact, but for Ant, for all the young people, Jaden, what he brings is invaluable. They will benefit from it throughout their careers.”
Even if his personal statistics are much lower than during his best years (10.1 points at 48% success including 42% from distance, 5.3 assists in 28 minutes), Mike Conley is a reassuring metronome leading the team, whose assists/turnovers ratio is exceptional: 74 assists for 11 lost balls!
For The Athletic, he nevertheless recounts the difficult circumstances of his transfer. It was notably by hearing Malik Beasley talking in his headset, during a video game game, about a transfer sending him to the Lakers, and Mike Conley to Minnesota, that he first became aware of the “ trade” which would send him to the Wolves. Mike Conley had been monitoring the rumors for weeks, feeling that his future in a rebuilding Utah team was uncertain, and he was still surprised.
But it was especially in relation to his wife and their three sons, Myles, Noah and Elijah, that it was complicated.
“There were all these uncertainties related to the fact that we had to start from scratch”explains Mary Conley. “When we first got traded, the kids were so little, it was just me. So it didn’t affect them too much. But this time, I had to think about a school, sports, pediatricians, dentists…”
It’s a whole daily life that has to be put back in place for the family. “You can make a lot of money, but if you get punched, you always say, ‘Oh my God, that hurts.’ Yes, I’ll get over it. But at that moment, it hurts. So let me take this in before we move on.”image of the playmaker.
The bright side
Then it’s the children who have to break the news. Mike Conley told them about the Mall of America, the largest shopping center in the United States, located in Minnesota, which convinced the elder. And then the three boys love animals, so supporting the Wolves rather than the Jazz was very easy…
But it was really when the Wolves guaranteed the final year of the point guard’s contract that the family began to look on the bright side, with Mary Conley appreciating the proximity between Minneapolis and Columbus, Ohio, where the family spent time. ‘summer. “It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions. We can now be excited. »
An enthusiasm also displayed by the children, the eldest, Myles, having quickly made new friends at his school. An enthusiasm also displayed on the field by Mike Conley, while the Wolves are currently at the top of the Western conference and the playmaker, still the holder, has a real role.
“It’s probably the best situation for me at this stage of my career. Not only do we have a team that can be competitive in the short term, but I’m also really a part of it, and I’m not being pushed aside like, ‘Hey, you know, you’re not going to play too much. You’re going to have to take on the role of mentor.” he concludes.
| Mike Conley | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2007-08 | SAME | 53 | 26 | 42.8 | 33.0 | 73.2 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 4.2 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 9.4 |
| 2008-09 | SAME | 82 | 31 | 44.2 | 40.6 | 81.7 | 0.3 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 10.9 |
| 2009-10 | SAME | 80 | 32 | 44.5 | 38.7 | 74.3 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 5.3 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 12.0 |
| 2010-11 | SAME | 81 | 36 | 44.4 | 36.9 | 73.3 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 6.5 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 13.7 |
| 2011-12 | SAME | 62 | 35 | 43.3 | 37.7 | 86.1 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 6.5 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 12.7 |
| 2012-13 | SAME | 80 | 35 | 44.0 | 36.2 | 83.0 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 6.1 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 14.6 |
| 2013-14 | SAME | 73 | 34 | 45.0 | 36.1 | 81.5 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 2.9 | 6.0 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 17.2 |
| 2014-15 | SAME | 70 | 32 | 44.6 | 38.6 | 85.9 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 5.4 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 15.8 |
| 2015-16 | SAME | 56 | 31 | 42.2 | 36.3 | 83.4 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 6.1 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 15.3 |
| 2016-17 | SAME | 69 | 33 | 46.0 | 40.8 | 85.9 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 6.3 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 20.5 |
| 2017-18 | SAME | 12 | 31 | 38.1 | 31.2 | 80.3 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 17.1 |
| 2018-19 | SAME | 70 | 34 | 43.8 | 36.4 | 84.5 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 6.4 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 21.1 |
| 2019-20 | UTH | 47 | 29 | 40.9 | 37.5 | 82.7 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 4.4 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 0.1 | 14.4 |
| 2020-21 | UTH | 51 | 29 | 44.4 | 41.2 | 85.2 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 6.0 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 16.2 |
| 2021-22 | UTH | 72 | 29 | 43.5 | 40.8 | 79.6 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 5.4 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 13.7 |
| 2022-23 * | All Teams | 67 | 30 | 42.8 | 38.5 | 83.4 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 6.7 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 11.9 |
| 2022-23 * | UTH | 43 | 30 | 40.8 | 36.2 | 81.3 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 7.7 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 10.7 |
| 2022-23 * | MIN | 24 | 31 | 46.0 | 42.0 | 86.3 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 5.0 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 14.0 |
| 2023-24 | MIN | 14 | 28 | 48.1 | 41.9 | 100.0 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 5.3 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 10.1 |
| Total | 1039 | 32 | 43.9 | 38.3 | 82.1 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 5.7 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 0.2 | 14.6 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
Photo credit: Mary Conley’s Instagram account
