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Thunder Jackson returns home, finds 'God in Oklahoma'

This is Songwriters & Tour Riders, a music podcast from KOSU hosted by Matthew Viriyapah.

Kyle Bradley was raised in Piedmont, Oklahoma. But his alter-ego, Thunder Jackson, was born in Los Angeles, California, after years of playing in smoky bars and busking since he was a teenager.

He released his debut self-titled album in 2020, but after its release he said that music wasn't making sense to him anymore. It wasn't until he moved back to Oklahoma where he found the inspiration to create again.

He released an EP titled Take Me Back last fall and is working on new music while splitting his time between L.A. and Oklahoma.

In this episode, hear Thunder Jackson talk about how his father was an Elvis impersonator and got him a license to play in bars as a teenager, creating the moniker Thunder Jackson, and returning to Oklahoma.

On having an Elvis impersonator as a father

I was probably around, I don't know, 13 years old when I really kind of picked up a guitar and was able to, like, actually play music.

And my dad growing up was he was in bands always. He was also an Elvis impersonator, which was also a super unique thing about my father.

So he had me playing in bars. He got me the special license to play when I was about 14 years old, so I was playing in local bars in Oklahoma City and Yukon and Piedmont since I was about 14.

I always look back on those days when I was obviously not good. And I remember my dad gave me this bit of advice. He was like, 'Kyle, you're not the best. But, you know, the more you do this, the more you're going to be the best, and you got something different, and you can't stop.'

So I never stopped. And I just got better and better and better.

And then, from there, I ended up moving to California. And then I was also a street performer on the 3rd Street Promenade [in Santa Monica, Calif.] for about two years as well. So a lot of a lot of my young musical life was spent playing in outside places, small bars, open mics. You name it. I would try to play it.

On creating Thunder Jackson

Me and my producer, Pete, who we've made the first record together, and we're continuing making another record now. For a year, you know, I was working on his record with him. He was in a band called Until the Ribbon Breaks , and they're still putting out a record this year.

So I was pretty much focused on working on his record with him, and there was always this joke like, 'Kyle's going to have a name because his name is Kyle.'

And so there was one time we were camping, or somewhere, I think I was looking up and there's a bunch of heat lightning. And I was like, 'man, what if my name was Thunder?' and then Pete put Jackson at the end of it. He put it in his voice memo forever. Then two years later comes about, and we're like we should start this record back. We should try to find Thunder Jackson.

Once we said it, it just kind of, like, all made sense to who I was and who the project was going to be. And it sort of created this character that we were able to write from a standpoint of which was very much based off of me. But I think essentially it started to veer off into this sort of anti-hero kind of guy. It was like: what is Thunder Jackson, who is Thunder Jackson, what would Thunder Jackson do in this situation? Which made our writing a lot more fun.

I feel like I had a blast kind of writing that first record where it was very much a character-based album where it was 'what exactly is a Thunder Jackson?' And we sort of were figuring out what exactly was a Thunder Jackson while we were making it.

I think we still are trying to figure out what a Thunder Jackson is. But the first song we pretty much ever made was "Guilty Party."

We have this question in our head of like, what is a Thunder Jackson?

So we just sent it over to my mom, and she just goes, 'What is a Thunder Jackson?' And we were like, yes, this is perfect!

On coming back to Oklahoma

I was just in L.A. and it was just right after that record. And I was through heartbreak. I was going through this sort of like imposter syndrome where I didn't really know what I wanted to do anymore. Music wasn't really making sense to me anymore like it used to.

I was just kind of struggling with a lot of chasing or running or more running away from the things that I needed to not run away from. But I just kept running and running and it just made me really kind of go down this dark hole.

I almost quit music. I almost just decided to live this other life cause I just couldn't figure out who I wanted to be anymore until I moved back to Oklahoma.

And all it did was feed me with inspiration and support. And I just found beauty again. I found beauty in living again. I found beauty in creating again. And it wasn't through the big bright lights of Los Angeles, of New York or London. It was through sitting on the back of a truck smoking a cigarette with my best friends since fourth grade, hanging out with my parents at dinner.

It was sitting and making music for no reason besides why would we do anything else? This is what we love to do.

Music featured in this episode:

• Thunder Jackson - Led Astray
• Thunder Jackson - Colours
• Thunder Jackson - Love Sick Doctor
• Until the Ribbon Breaks - Count The Lightning
• Thunder Jackson - Guilty Party
• Jeff Buckley - Lover, You Should've Come Over
• Thunder Jackson - SOS
• Thunder Jackson - How Did You Leave
• Thunder Jackson - Caroline
• Thunder Jackson - Find Yourself
• Leif Vollebekk - Hot Tears (Live at KCRW)
• Dijon - The Dress
• Prince - Sign of the Times
• Prince - Sometimes it Snows in April
• Thunder Jackson ft. Chet Faker - Take Me Back
• Thunder Jackson - God in Oklahoma

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Meet Thunder Jackson, the mysterious musician set for global superstardom

By Kathleen Johnston

Growing up in Piedmont, Oklahoma, Thunder Jackson used to watch his father play local state fairs as an Elvis impersonator. It was this that inspired the now 23-year-old artist to become a performer himself, seeing his father, “a big dude who would normally be in cargo shorts and plaid shirts”, transform so completely into the king of rock‘n’roll, jumpsuits, quiff, gold jewellery, fake sideburns and all. “That was the first time I was introduced to someone becoming a character on stage,” Jackson says, “seeing him completely disconnect from his ‘usual’ self, playing in front of crowds. That made me so excited to do the same.”

By the time Jackson, real-name Kyle Bradley, was 14, his father had helped him secure a special licence that allowed him to play at bars in Oklahoma. “He knew I could perform – I was never scared to sing in front of a thousand people – but at that stage, I wasn’t very good, so he knew I needed practice,” says Jackson. By 15, he was averaging three gigs a week, “playing Damian Rice covers to old drunks” while his dad continued his musical education at home with legendary records such as Prince’s Sign O' The Times .

At 19, Jackson moved to LA . “Being a small-town kid, I thought the only way to make it was to get on a plane and go play in the streets of California,” he says. “So that’s what I did, for nearly a year-and-a-half, seven days a week.” Despite the initial pull of a life by the beach, busking on the Boulevard proved to be soul-battering work. “Carrying your wagon three miles down to the promenade every day for a year and nobody really giving a shit about you took a toll on me,” Jackson says. “All I was doing is playing until ten, coming home and sitting in my crappy little apartment”. After months of paying his landlord in one dollar bills, he called his parents to float the idea of coming home, saving some money and trying again in a few years. But Jackson’s father said no. “He told me, ‘If you do that, you’ll never go back to LA.’”

He persevered and, soon after, as luck would have it, a chance encounter with British musician Pete Lawrie Winfield changed Jackson’s life forever. The pair met in an Uber, Lawrie Winfield riding upfront, Jackson in the back. Jeff Buckley was playing on the radio and Jackson started to sing along, inadvertently showcasing a soul-stirring falsetto that immediately caught Lawrie Winfield’s attention. The Cardiff native, who is frontman of electro-pop-rock band Until The Ribbon Breaks and can be found on Vero @plw , invited Jackson to his studio the following day with a view to recording some backing vocals. The pair have, Jackson says, “literally been best friends ever since”, embarking on a three-year collaborative journey that culminated in self-titled debut album Thunder Jackson , which arrived earlier this month.

An addictive, high-octane eleven-track record, Thunder Jackson mixes pop-rock with electronica in a way that makes you want to get up and dance until the early hours. The pair’s rare creative alchemy is obvious, be it on the spacey, slow “Love Sick Doctor” (on which Jackson’s father makes an appearance with a Dennis Hopper-style monologue) or the synth-heavy, fast-paced lead single “Find Yourself”, the video for which has already been viewed more than a million times on YouTube. Like the production, the songwriting is dark, punchy and enigmatic, fuelling Jackson’s glamorous, theatrical but ultimately elusive persona. As Lawrie Winfield, who prefers to remain a behind-the-scenes producer on this project, puts it: “My first impression of Thunder was that he preferred to live in a kind of a comic book of his own making.”

The album was released through Vero Music, the all-new label from the disruptive, no-ads, no-algorithms social platform. Jackson ( @ThunderJackson ) is the first artist on its roster, having been offered, as he puts it, “one of the best record deals ever set in front of an artist”. Noting how the conversation around music contracts has come to a head in recent months, with Kanye West tweeting about how abusive they can be, Jackson tells GQ that he feels even luckier in light of “these horror stories, [where] even the biggest, richest artists own nothing of their own music”.

Vero Music has a cutting-edge contemporary business model, offering emerging artists the chance to grow on their own terms without the restrictions and caveats a traditional major label deal normally comes with. As Nikke Slight, head of Vero Music, explains, “Our artists retain 100 per cent control of their copyrights and enjoy highly favourable business terms. Moreover, we’re not obsessed with data. We want to partner with artists based on their creative vision and talent – not the size of their social following.”

By Oren Hartov

By Cam Wolf

A commitment to inclusion, fairness and transparency is at the heart of Vero Music, which it sees as an extension of the social platform’s “escape the algorithm” mantra. Although the label – a collaboration with management giants ATC – is new, nurturing new talent is not: Vero the social platform was designed with artists and creators in mind and has been supporting musicians since day one, from emerging acts such as Abi Ocia and Piers James , all the way to Charli XCX. “We’ve funded music videos and mini-docs, co-developed music shows, provided tour support and underwritten a number of special events and passion projects,” says Slight.

It’s what underpins GQ ’s own partnership with Vero ( @BritishGQ has been the home of all things music since 2017, with the Vero Breakthrough Music Act category at the GQ Awards spotlighting stars Jorja Smith and Dave as they were on the rise), with the label feeling like a natural progression, particularly in light of emerging artist programme Vero Amplify, which has showcased the likes of Arlo Parks, Josie Man, Sports Team and, of course, Jackson.

Having met Vero’s CEO and cofounder Ayman Hariri through Lawrie Winfield, it was Jackson who ultimately inspired the label launch. Hariri wanted to take Vero’s artist support to the next level, so, spurred on with encouragement from Jackson and other young musicians in the Vero community, he came to realise there was, as Slight explains to GQ , “an opportunity to create an innovative new path to artist development and commercial success by drawing upon our resources as a talent incubator”. First and foremost, the label “nurtures the art and the artist,” says Hariri.

Jackson says it’s a world away from the kind of corporate, opportunist relationship laid out by the likes of Kanye. “Vero’s whole mindset is, ‘Give the artist the things that they work for.’ It’s collaborative, it’s not taking advantage of anybody. That’s just Ayman as a human being, he really cares about art. He’s the coolest guy I’ve ever met in my life.”

As well as label services, Vero Music artists get to collaborate with the social platform’s global community of fellow musicians, videographers, photographers and more – a major draw for Jackson. He tells GQ how he’s connected with the likes of Rankin to plan photo shoots together when the world returns to normal. “We’re seeing more and more artists realise what this platform is able to do,” he says. “You have this place that is wholly artist-driven, so when you’re working on content while also producing on a record, you have somewhere to share it that isn’t over-saturated… Vero is so dialled in. You can direct your fans straight to your content. It’s not getting lost in the algorithm or in a feed. It’s like a journal for your creative output.”

According to Jackson, on his Vero channel you’ll find “my mind in one place, from what I’ve been listening to and writing, to me dancing in the studio”. It’s a kind of virtual scrapbook, where Jackson shares fascinating, high-quality, exclusive content with his followers. One such project is the No Show Roadshow tour, a new vlog series that came about as a response to the closure of live music in light of the pandemic, which sees Jackson travel to the towns he was supposed to play and perform shows on film. His best friend, Graham, shot it all, with each performance delivered as a five-minute vlog that also showcases the run-up and context to them. “The coolest one we did was the Utah salt flats. We were the only people there, so I put on a pink suit and just danced around among the miles and miles of white salt.”

From inception, he was confident about taking the idea to Vero. “If I’m passionate about a pitch and I put together a budget and they think it can work, then they are game for it, because they believe in the project and believe in my creative vision,” he says. The team at Vero helped him to develop the idea further, suggesting that he showcase his love of vintage clothing by stopping in a vintage store in every town they visited, a fresh element he says is now a highlight of each episode.

Right now, Jackson is finalising the remaining episodes while luxuriating in the success of this album, but he’s also started his sophomore project, which he says will be called Lipstick Cowboy . Vero Music is gearing up to launch its second act, LA-based duo Dana And The Wolf, who are currently putting the finishing touches on their debut album, which they recorded, in its entirety, in their bedroom studio. “Daniel Wolf produces and is a talented musician and great lyricist,” says Slight. “His partner, Dana Hobson, is an extraordinary vocalist with a range and ability equal to Gaga. Their music is edgy, baroque pop and quite unlike anything out there right now.” Jackson’s explosive entry onto the world’s music scene may prove difficult to match, but clearly, the game-changing Vero Music is only just getting started. 

Thunder Jackson is out now.  

Follow Vero Music on Vero @VeroMusic . As two platforms looking to showcase emerging talent, GQ and Vero are on the hunt for exciting new artists to connect with the community in-app in order to be in with a chance of being spotlighted on both of our channels. All you need to do is upload one of your songs or videos to Vero with the hashtag #GQspotlights.

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Thunder Jackson Tickets

Saturday 10/9/2021 7:00 PM Thunder Jackson New York Mercury Lounge - NY - New York, NY VIEW TICKETS Tuesday 10/19/2021 7:00 PM Thunder Jackson Los Angeles Moroccan Lounge - Los Angeles, CA VIEW TICKETS

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Sunday 31 December 2023

Thunder Jackson

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425 NW 23rd St. 73103 Oklahoma City, OK, US (405) 708-6937 towertheatreokc.com/

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Doors open: 09:00

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Thunder Jackson - Resilience and courage

| Words by David Alarcón

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Resilience and courage.

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Grizzlies’ GG Jackson Recalls Hilarious Experience of Hearing Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama Talk Trash

• Author: Kristen Wong

San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama’s 7'4'' towering figure has made him a lone unicorn in the NBA, allowing him to block shots with effortless ease and dunk without so much as breaking a sweat. The one unforeseen disadvantage to his height, though, may be getting his opponents to hear his trash talk.

In the Spurs’ 102-87 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in San Antonio on Tuesday, guard GG Jackson recalled the disorienting experience of being on the short, receiving end of Wembanyama’s on-court disses.

“He's so high in the air,” Jackson said. “When he talks trash, he sounds like he’s whispering. He was like, ‘Go back up. Go. Go. You scared. You scared. You scared.’”

Another gold GG Jackson quote 🤣🤣 Come to watch him talk about being motivated to go at Wemby tonight after he talked trash to him in San Antonio. Stay for him saying "He's definitely gonna be one of the greatest defenders of all-time when it's all said and done." More ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/p69SvnZwIw — Matt Infield (@Matt_Infield) April 10, 2024

Wembanyama finished with 18 points, 7 blocks, 7 rebounds and 6 assists against Memphis and had an out-of-this-world highlight reel to boot . The Rookie of the Year contender will take on Chet Holmgren and the Oklahoma Thunder on Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

"I don’t want to take a leap, but he’s definitely gonna be one of the greatest defenders of all-time when it's all said and done,” said Jackson.

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Bruno Mars will perform at 2024 Trifecta Derby Eve Gala. Here's how to get tickets

M usic superstar, award-winning singer, songwriter, and producer Bruno Mars has been tapped to headline the 2024 Trifecta Derby Eve Gala .

Mars has sold more than 200 million singles worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. This will be the global superstar's second trip to Louisville in less than a year. Mars was here in September as a headlining performer at the 2023 Bourbon and Beyond Music Festival .

Mars will perform on Derby Eve, Friday, May 3, at the 2024 Trifecta Gala hosted by Eden Bridgeman Sklenar and her family. Although the specific venue has yet to be disclosed, we do know the party will held at a unique location close to Louisville Slugger Field downtown.

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“As our final act after many years of memorable Galas and most importantly raising funds for various charities, we couldn’t be more excited to host Bruno Mars," Sklenar said. "One of the most exciting entertainers in music today.  We can’t wait to celebrate Derby 150 with all of our guests.”

More: The Trifecta Gala is returning Kentucky Derby weekend. What to know about the celebrity party

Besides attracting big-name entertainment and Hollywood, fashion, and sports celebrities The Trifecta Gala also includes a charitable arm. This year’s event will benefit Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Kentuckiana and will pay special homage to the invaluable contributions of African Americans to the Kentucky Derby history with a reverence for the past and a vision for the future.

The fun-filled party will include a night of elevated food, libations, and musical acts. The Gala is recognized by Churchill Downs as an official Kentucky Derby event and is sponsored by Churchill Downs, EBONY, Jet Media, Jackson Family Wines, and Brown-Forman.

Additional celebrity guests will be announced in the coming weeks, and tickets starting at $750 are now available at trifectagala.com .

Reach features reporter Kirby Adams at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Bruno Mars will perform at 2024 Trifecta Derby Eve Gala. Here's how to get tickets

Bucks avoid injury scare. Plus, Wolves, Nuggets battle + can Victor Wembanyama win DPOY?

I’d offer up my calf muscle to Giannis, but it’s technically just a soft cheese at this point.

You can buy tickets to every NBA game  here .

About Last Night

Giannis’ injury looks very concerning

First and foremost, Giannis Antetokounmpo ’s injury is a bit worrisome. If you missed  the Bucks (48-31, second in East) beating the East-leading Celtics (62-15) , 104-91, last night, then you probably missed a scary moment in which the two-time MVP went to the ground just running up the floor without any contact.  Here is a link to see , if you choose to view.

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Normally, that moment would instantly induce fear of an Achilles’ tendon rupturing because that’s what it looked like.  The Bucks announced Tuesday night that Antetokounmpo strained his left soleus , which is a muscle in the calf. But Antetokounmpo managed to avoid damage to his left Achilles tendon — a best-case outcome — and his return will be based on treatment and how the strained calf’s rehab response, league sources told  The Athletic’s  Shams Charania on Wednesday morning.

Damian Lillard had a grade 2 strain of that muscle last season and ended up missing about two weeks. If that’s the case for Giannis, he could return some time early in the first round. Hopefully it’s nothing worse than that, but you’ve got notifications for  Shams’ tweets  on your phone, so you won’t miss any news. The Bucks’ win kept them one game ahead of the Knicks (47-32, third in East) for the No. 2 seed in the East.

1-3 in the West holding:  Anthony Edwards dropped a career-high 51 points on the Wizards  to keep pace with Denver , which beat the Jazz in Utah. The Thunder stayed a game behind Minnesota and Denver by beating Sacramento (45-34, eighth in West).

51. All-NBA this man. pic.twitter.com/x1M1hOmBOK — Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 10, 2024

West playoff berths clinched:  The Clippers (51-28, fourth in West) avoided blowing a 33-point halftime lead to beat the Suns  (46-33, seventh in West). Dallas (49-30, fifth in West) hammered Charlotte . Both teams clinched top-six seeds and don’t have to worry about the Play-In.

Pelicans ⬆️| Suns ⬇️:  New Orleans (47-32, sixth in West) beat Portland to move up to sixth as Phoenix fell to the seventh spot.

8-10 holding in the West:  The Kings are in eighth, a half game ahead of the Lakers (45-35).  The Lakers lost to the Warriors  (44-35, tenth in West),  who are now one game behind them for ninth.

5-8 in the East holding:  Cleveland (46-33, fifth in East) has the same record as Orlando (46-33, fourth in East) but is still in fifth. Indiana (46-34) sits in the No. 6 seed and just beat Charlotte to move a half game behind the Cavs. The Sixers (45-35, seventh in East) remain a game behind Indiana at seven after a win over Detroit . Miami (44-35, eighth in East) is a half game behind Philadelphia after beating Atlanta (36-43, 10th in East) in double OT. Traffic jam! 🚗🚗🚗🚗

Knicks ⬆️| Magic ⬇️:  New York and Orlando swapped spots in the East, thanks to the Knicks beating the Bulls (37-42, ninth in East) and the Magic losing to the Rockets (39-40, 11th in West). It’s hard to tell why the Bulls couldn’t take down the Knicks last night.  I can’t quite put my finger on it . 🤔🤔🤔

The Latest From Shams

KAT close to return

Karl-Anthony Towns is expected to return  from a torn meniscus for one of the Timberwolves’ final regular-season games, league sources tell me. In addition to Denver tonight, they face Atlanta on Friday and Phoenix on Sunday. Towns attacked his rehab process and impressed his teammates and coaches with his recovery after suffering the injury in early March.

As I noted in yesterday’s newsletter , Towns participated in a team scrimmage Sunday, his first since injuring the knee, league sources said, and there was optimism Towns would play before the playoffs.

Towns is averaging 22.1 points and 8.4 rebounds this season.

Karl-Anthony Towns is expected to return in one of the Timberwolves’ final regular season games, sources tell @ShamsCharania . Towns has been recovering from a torn meniscus since early March. Updates ⤵️ https://t.co/mlzcvyBn3g pic.twitter.com/l7YUuYn8mI — The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 10, 2024

DPOY worthy?

How close is Wemby to the award?

Right now, one of the trendiest things in the basketball social world is aggregation accounts comparing the steal and block numbers of rookie extraterrestrial Victor Wembanyama and other top defenders. The Spurs rookie has been  so  prolific at blocking shots and collecting steals that people are wondering if he could be the first rookie to win Defensive Player of the Year.

• For example, Wemby has been compared to Jaren Jackson Jr. (last year’s winner). Last season, JJJ had 189 blocks (league-leading 3.0 per game) and 65 steals in 63 games (1,787 minutes).
• Entering today, Wemby has 252 blocks (league-leading 3.6 per game) and 87 steals in 70 games (2,069 minutes).

While Wembanyama has the second-best odds for this season’s DPOY honor (plus-850), according to BetMGM.com, Wolves center Rudy Gobert sits at minus-3000 for those betting odds. That is an overwhelming favorite. Let’s compare both players:

• Gobert has 250 blocks and 103 steals … over the last two seasons combined. He’s played 143 games and 4,633 minutes in that time.
• On a rated basis, Gobert is averaging 1.7 blocks and 0.7 steals per game in the last two seasons.  As a rookie, Wemby is averaging over twice as many blocks while nearly doubling Gobert’s steals rate over the aforementioned span.

Many of these comparisons started circulating  after Mike Monroe wrote a great article nearly two weeks ago about Wemby’s case for DPOY . Wemby’s raw steals and blocks numbers are certainly ridiculous for anybody, let alone a rookie. And the Spurs have a very good defense with Wemby on the court, enjoying a 110.9 defensive rating when he plays.  That figure would rank fourth in the NBA over a full season.  When Wemby sits?  Their mark falls to 118.2, which would amount to the league’s 27th-best defense.  That’s a  massive  gulf, and the defense has been getting better with him on the floor as the season rolls on.

Of course, I do think Gobert’s consistency has given the Wolves a key boost all season long, as they’ve had the league’s best defense almost wire-to-wire this season. Even though Wemby’s defense has been more exciting, Gobert’s consistency beyond the numbers certainly matters. Plus, Minnesota has enjoyed the second-winningest season in team history thanks to Gobert. And Wemby even said a couple of weeks ago that Gobert  does  deserve this season’s award before adding this:

“Let him win it now because after that it’s no longer his turn.”

Wemby shouldn’t win DPOY this season,  but it could be the last year for a  long  time he goes home without the hardware . I mean, just look at this 3-on-1 fast break he impeded last night!

Wolves-Nuggets Q&A

Jon K. on tonight’s battle for No. 1 out West

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets are both tied for the best record in the Western Conference (55-24). Both are sitting one game ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder (54-25). And tonight, the Wolves and Nuggets play for the fourth time this season. The winner will likely take the No. 1 seed in the West, so we’re bringing in Wolves reporter Jon Krawczynski to ask three tough questions about this matchup.

Question:  The Wolves just won in Denver almost two weeks ago. What is the key to replicating that game tonight?

Krawczynski:  First of all, not having it be the second night of a road back-to-back in that elevation. But they played Denver tough under similar circumstances – but at home – without Towns, Gobert and Naz Reid on March 19 and only lost by three points, so a tight one is definitely in play tonight. The Wolves just seem to match up well with the Nuggets.  No one can stop Jokić, but the array of bigs they can throw at him at least makes him work for what he can get.  Reid surprisingly played him really well in Denver a couple of weeks ago, with Gobert serving as a help defender and daring Aaron Gordon to make shots. It’s a strategy that has bothered the Nuggets, and I’m sure we will see the Wolves try again tonight. If they are their usual defensive selves and get some shot-making from Edwards, they’ll be in good shape.

Question:  Why have the Wolves been successful (2-1) against the Nuggets so far this season?

Krawczynski:  A lot of the above applies, but let’s focus on one pretty big factor: Edwards. If the 22-year-old has a weakness, it is not taking lesser opponents seriously.  You will see him goof around against Washington or Charlotte or Portland, but he has a deep respect for the Nuggets.  He wants to beat them. The intensity is generally there from the start, and the Nuggets don’t really have an answer for him on defense. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope usually gets most of the work, but Edwards is too strong for him. Now, he is seeing the floor as well, making the simple but devastating pass much earlier. It makes him so hard to guard. When you have a star like that and a defense that never quits, it’s a tough combination.

Question:  Do you think the Wolves need that No. 1 seed more than Denver or OKC?

Krawczynski:  They definitely need it more than Denver. The Nuggets know exactly who they are and exactly what they have to do to get to the Finals. They can win at home or on the road. The Wolves can’t act like they’ve been there before because they have not been there before.  They’re trying to get out of the first round of the playoffs for just the second time in the franchise’s 35-year history.  Even their vets, Gobert and Conley, have not had a ton of success in the playoffs. OKC is similarly unproven, but the team just seems to have a poise about itself late in games. The Wolves are more excitable. They defend better at home and have turned Target Center into a rowdy environment. Having homecourt throughout the Western Conference playoffs would be a big benefit for them.

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Screen Game (All times Eastern)

• Main Screen:  Wolves-Nuggets (10 p.m. ESPN). See section above.
• Second Screen:  Spurs-Thunder (8 p.m.). All we need is Wemby vs. Chet.
• League Pass Game of the Night:  Suns- Clippers (10:30 p.m.). Let’s see if the Suns can avoid a 30-point deficit in the first quarter.  Full schedule here .

(Top photo: Joe Murphy / Getty Images   )

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