Timberwolves give Joe Ingles his first start in 3 years as he plays in front of autistic son for first time

Friday was a meaningful game for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and not just because of the NBA playoff race.

For the first time ever, veteran sharpshooter Joe Ingles played an NBA game with his son Jacob, who is autistic, watching in the audience. The Timberwolves opted to start Ingles to make sure Jacob saw as much of his dad as possible.

It wasn’t just Ingles’ first start of the season, it was his first since Jan. 2022.

Ingles wound up playing six minutes, logging no points and an assist in a 134-93 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. He enjoyed a moment with Jacob after the game.

Per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, Ingles' wife Renae and their three children have stayed home all season in Orlando, where he played last year, but visited Minnesota this week. There were concerns the sensory overload of an NBA arena would be too much for Jacob, but he was able to watch an entire game in person earlier this week – but Ingles didn't play.

Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch opted to change that Friday and explained the decision to start Ingles after the game, saying it felt right and credited it for giving the team an emotional boost.

"Sometimes you gotta do the human thing," Finch said. "We always talk about 'All these minutes matter' and those minutes mattered for another reason.

"Someone put it in my head as an idea to make sure Joe can see the floor and I figured if we're going to do it, let's do it in style. Guys were behind it and I think it gave us just the right boost that we needed and change of energy. Not often that you get to do those types of things, but we're really happy that we could."

Ingles also discussed the challenges of raising a child with Jacob's condition, emphasizing the importance of awareness and helping families in need.

"This s*** is real. It doesn't matter who you are or your lifestyle, your money, whatever," Ingles said. "Jacob doesn't really care I play basketball ... He wants his dad home and every time I say I'm going to play basketball, he's like 'Ughhh.' Which I'm sure a lot of kids – it's not just me obviously.

"We'll keep doing what we do. We'll keep pushing the awareness and doing what we can to help other families, but I think people just need to understand this is a real thing. It doesn't go away with money. It doesn't go away with the situation that you're in. All we can do is talk about and obviously for us, give Jacob the best chance to fit in this kind of crazy world that we're in."

Ingles is an 11-year NBA veteran who spent most of his career as a beloved 3-point specialist with the Utah Jazz. He’s moved around recently in his career, moving between the Timberwolves, Orlando Magic and Milwaukee Bucks over the past three seasons.