As Italy face the U.S., Timberwolves track Dante Nori’s surge while navigating a tight West race
The Timberwolves have rallied around the son of assistant coach Micah Nori, Dante Nori, as he competes in the World Baseball Classic.
On Tuesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves will split their attention between Los Angeles and Houston. While the team prepares to face the Lakers, many inside the organization will be tracking Italy-United States at the World Baseball Classic – a marquee baseball matchup with a personal twist for Minnesota and a reminder of how global competitions now intersect with North American pro schedules.
A shared Tuesday night
Minnesota assistant coach Micah Nori’s son, Dante, has emerged as a breakout player for Italy and is set to face the U.S. in Houston a couple of hours before the Timberwolves tip off in L.A. “I will be watching the Timberwolves,” Micah Nori said. “But at 6 o’clock Pacific time, I will be focused on the Italians and the Americans in the WBC, for sure.”
- World Baseball Classic: Italy vs. United States – Houston
- NBA: Timberwolves at Lakers – Los Angeles
There will be no dunks or 3-pointers in Houston, but there will be a pitch clock – a different rhythm and a timely change of pace for a locker room grinding through an airtight Western Conference playoff race and the daily scrutiny that comes with it.
His father says that by the time Dante was 4, he figured his future was in baseball. As the story goes, Dante would try to play on his toy basket and Micah would swat his shot away and put the baseball bat in his hands instead.
Baseball first, basketball always nearby
Dante eventually made a straightforward decision in middle school – “It was a very easy choice,” he said. “Just keep the cleats on and play baseball.” The Nori family’s baseball lineage runs deep. Fred Nori, Micah’s father, played three seasons at Indiana before a stint in professional ball. Micah also played at Indiana, leading the team with a .365 average as a senior, before starting a basketball career that included work as an advance scout under Butch Carter in Toronto, a return to the Hoosiers’ bench, and then a long run in the NBA.
Even as his professional life centered on basketball, Micah kept a bat close to home. Dante credits a lifetime around elite competitors for shaping his approach: learning work habits from NBA players while carrying his own identity onto an international baseball stage that now includes a high-profile meeting with the defending WBC champions.
Inside a locker room’s second sport
The Timberwolves remain fixed on their stretch run, but they have made space to support one of their own. “My family is obviously locked in on it, but so is our organization,” Micah said. “It sounds crazy, but so many guys are locked in. Our head coach is a big fan, and I can’t tell you how many people send videos or pictures of them watching Dante’s game. It means a lot. It is a welcome distraction, if you will, one that has you just get away from the grind a little bit.”
In a league where player load, mental health and focus are increasingly treated as strategic priorities, that “distraction” functions more like a pressure valve: a shared storyline that doesn’t affect the standings but does affect how a group gets through an 82-game season.
That crossover is reinforced at the ownership level. Co-owner Alex Rodriguez – a 14-time All-Star, three-time MVP, World Series champion and 696-home-run hitter – has been a touchpoint for Dante over the years. “Alex has been great the few times that Dante and he have crossed paths when Dante was in Minnesota, even when he was in high school,” Micah said. “Alex is always taking time to give Dante some advice.”
Why this night matters for both teams
For Italy, a strong World Baseball Classic window can elevate players and deepen a program that often draws from a global diaspora. Performances like Nori’s can influence organizational decisions far beyond one tournament, from how Major League clubs evaluate dual-national prospects to how federations allocate resources and development time.
For Minnesota, the timing offers a constructive outlet inside a demanding NBA calendar: a collective second screen that strengthens bonds without diverting from the primary objective of securing the best possible playoff seed. In a conference where a single loss can reshuffle home-court advantage, a connected locker room can be as consequential as a midseason trade.
The World Baseball Classic is an international tournament for national teams sanctioned in cooperation with the sport’s global governance structure, including the International Olympic Committee, with roster rules that allow nations to select players through citizenship and heritage pathways. That framework helps explain why a guardrail-strong basketball family now finds itself rallying around a blue jersey that reads “Italia.”
Heritage on the jersey, habits from the gym
“Being around all these great NBA players your whole life, it helps you out,” Dante said, noting how he learned to tune out noise and “just focus on playing [his] game.” In practical terms, those habits translate across sports: routine, recovery, and consistency under pressure. Whether in a playoff chase or a high-stakes international fixture, the demands are similar – poise, preparation and execution.
On Tuesday, one organization will experience both versions in real time: a pitch clock in Houston and a shot clock in Los Angeles, two competitions governed by different rulebooks but animated by the same performance culture – and one family story tying them together.