Running With The Wolves All Over Again: Why I StepPED Away, and Why I’ve Returned
We got rocked by the Spurs, 4-2.
The highlight of our postseason was beating the Nuggets at home in the first round—a massive, gritty effort by a squad missing three of its top guards. Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, and Ayo Dosunmu were all out with injuries.
Ultimately, this 2025–2026 team took a step back. We won 49 games—the exact same record as the year before—and finished as the 6th seed in the West again. But this year felt completely different. That sense of being right there slipped away. The 2024–25 squad lost to the Thunder in five games in the Western Conference Finals, but our regression this year was less about falling short a round earlier, and more about how the regular season actually felt during the second half of the year. [1]
Through the back-end of the 24–25 season, the Wolves were surging. We were stacking wins and carrying the unmistakable energy of a dark-horse contender. Anthony Edwards was healthy, Julius Randle was playing great, and the idea of upsetting OKC wasn’t just a pipe dream—it felt like a real, tangible possibility.
This year’s team never had that feel. We started slow. Even though we finished with the same win total, we dropped too many bad games in the spring. Whether we were losing to lottery teams or getting blown out by contenders, it never felt like we were looking at a championship team.
My Redshirt Freshman Year
If 2024–25 was me as a high school senior—looking up at a team on the rise, wanting to capture the essence of their 82-game journey to tell my own story—then this past 25–26 season was my redshirt freshman year. It was my first time truly on the roster. My first time gaining a real feel for what it means to be "on" night after night, week after week, month after grueling NBA calendar month.
Yes, writing about basketball is not playing basketball. But there is a side to my story that I didn't share last year. A side I am finally ready to share now.
The Parallel Journey: Building the APTL and Chasing the French Open
I am the co-founder of The American Professional Tennis League (APTL), and I am a tennis player training to compete professionally despite starting late. While I won't compete directly in the APTL, I am actively training to play ITF tournaments, growing my own game alongside the league's expansion.
This site, Running with the Wolves, is a sandbox for my thoughts on this basketball team while I navigate what it feels like to pursue a massive athletic goal of my own: making the French Open Qualifiers three years from now.
I have professional tennis coaches and strength and conditioning coaches who believe in me. They are getting me ready. But all the faith in the world doesn’t compare to forging a mind and heart that can handle the pace, the heat, and the emotional temperature of wanting to compete—and win—at the absolute highest level of sport.
Basketball is not tennis, and the NBA is not the APTL. But that vulnerability—of putting yourself out there, of giving everything you have to a dream that might not pan out—is exactly why I started this blog. It is exactly why I love this team. They are knocking on the door. They have the DNA of guys with immense potential who haven’t quite gone all the way yet.
Looking to October
And so, here we are on June 9th. Running With the Wolves all over again.
My last post was back in March. The swirl of my life hit a fever pitch, and I couldn't keep up with the game recaps the way I wanted to. Rather than forcing it, I stepped back. I focused on building the APTL pitch, keeping my mind sharp, and keeping my body strong, knowing the 2026–27 season would be here soon. I knew that when the timing felt right, I’d step back in.
This October’s home opener feels far away. But if I close my eyes and just breathe for ten minutes, I can already feel that night in my heart. Our Wolves have new uniforms, a new court, and a brand-new vision to work toward.
Regardless of how much the roster turns over this summer, their works begins again. And so does mine.
