Prince's legacy lives on with the Minnesota Timberwolves - ESPN

JUST BEFORE RUDY Gobert and Daniel Gafford step to half court for tipoff of Thursday's Game 5, an unmistakable opening guitar solo will pierce through the roar of the home crowd, setting the stage for the Minnesota Timberwolves' biggest game in two decades against the Dallas Mavericks. That will be followed by a drumbeat and synthesizer that is every bit as Minnesota as the Wolves logo in the middle of the Target Center's court.

The opening to «When Doves Cry» will build the home crowd into a frenzy. All that will be missing is the late Prince in attendance, cheering on his favorite basketball team.

«He would've loved to be sitting front row so he could rep his city,» Londell McMillan, Prince's longtime friend and former attorney told ESPN. «He would've loved Anthony Edwards and the chemistry, and Jaden McDaniels, because he likes tough play. He was a tough guy. The balance of the team, he would've saw them as a band that's well-refined.

»The one thing he might've said is that he liked the white shirts, but he would've been like, where's the purple?"

The legendary artist died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2016 at 57, but his presence is still felt throughout his hometown of Minneapolis, especially in the arena where he would sit courtside for multiple games per season.

«They meant the world to him,» Johnny Nelson, Prince's nephew, told ESPN of the Wolves.

Outside the Target Center, a large colorful mural of Prince is on the side of an adjacent parking structure while the historic nightclub First Avenue — where Prince performed and filmed scenes for «Purple Rain» — sits across the street.

Since 2012, it has been a ritual to open games with «When Doves Cry.» But after the artist's death, the team started new