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MINNEAPOLIS — The Joe Ingles family hit a milestone on Sunday.
Their young son Jacob — who has autism — watched an entire basketball game in person for the first time. It even seemed poetic that it was against Ingles' former team.
There was just one problem: Ingles didn't play as the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Utah Jazz.
That changed on Friday.
With Jacob again in attendance, Minnesota coach Chris Finch put Ingles in the starting lineup — his first start since Jan. 30, 2022.
"Sometimes you've got to do the human thing," Finch said. "We always talk about all these minutes matter, and those minutes mattered for another reason."
Finch said that once the idea of playing Ingles was floated to him, he figured he might as well make it as special as he could. He thought starting him was the best way to do just that. As part of the gesture, Mike Conley — who played with Ingles in Utah — ceded his usual spot in the opening lineup.
"If we were gonna do it, let's do it in style," Finch said. "Guys were behind it and I think it gave us the right boost that we needed."
This Joe Ingles story 🥹
— NBA (@NBA) March 22, 2025
Joe's wife, Renae, and their 3 kids are in town. Last week, their son Jacob, who is autistic, made it through his first ever NBA game in-arena. But Joe didn't play...
Tonight, Chris Finch started Ingles to make sure Jacob could see his dad play 🫶 pic.twitter.com/fKrHuFTNEi
Minnesota went on to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 134-93, while Ingles played six minutes and recorded an assist in the game with his son and family watching.
"Not often do you get to do those types of things, but we're really happy that we could," Finch said.
Ingles said he appreciated the gesture.
"To look up there tonight and I could see my name, and especially with Jacob — obviously, to Mike as well, being cool with it, it's rare in this league for someone to give up something that he's earned over 16 years to give me that opportunity. It's something I'll never forget," Ingles said.
The decision to start Ingles not only created a memorable moment for his family — he smiled and signaled to Jacob during the game — but also provided an opportunity to raise further awareness about autism.
That's something the Ingles family has been doing since Jacob was first diagnosed during the 2018-19 season when he was still with the Jazz.
"We'll keep doing what we do with the awareness, and we'll keep doing whatever we can to help other families," Ingles said. "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 situations we're in, all we can do is talk about it. And then, obviously, for us, give Jacob the best chance to fit in in this crazy world that we're in."
