In the hallway of CityView Community Center, an unlikely duo stood together. Crunch, the Wolves mascot, was frantically using his hands to sign out a game plan to Jaden McDaniels.
A PA announcer echoed out of the library.
“Now hold on, this is what we gonna do,” he belts out before dropping his voice. “I’m going to need you to make the biggest howl on three.”
McDaniels’ stoic demeanor cracks, and he begins smiling. The children inside the library start to howl, and Crunch waves off their first attempt. McDaniels smile widens as he holds back an excited laugh.
“We’re going to do it one more time,” the PA announcer yells. “We’re in a library, but we’re going to need to get loud, okay?”
This time, on the count of three, the children erupt in cheer. Crunch flies around the corner, leaving the hallway. He bangs on the door, riling the kids into a frenzy. McDaniels can’t help but smile again, his typical stone-faced demeanor now long gone.
McDaniels stood alone in the hallway, waiting for his introduction to his first Annual Winter Essentials drive. McDaniels partnered with Hyvee and Be The Change MN to raise money and winter clothing for communities, children, and families in need. It’s something former teammate Karl-Anthony Towns did, and McDaniels decided to continue in absence.
Facing the library were posters the children had made for the event. As the kids began to stomp and clap, McDaniels couldn’t help but smile again. As the chants for him began, McDaniels didn’t play to the theatrics to the same level as Crunch; he just walked in. McDaniels has a beaming smile as the children in attendance let out shrieks of excitement.
After the pandemonium settled, McDaniels took three questions from three attendees.
“Do you admit Anthony Edwards is better than you?”
McDaniels grinned as Crunch clapped his hands in dismay. The PA announcer quickly answers for McDaniels.
“They are brothers, man.”
Second question.
“How tall are you?”
“6’10,” McDaniels answers.
The third question required a longer answer from the reticent McDaniels.
“When you were younger, was it easy to start basketball, or was it a little hard?”
“At first, it was hard,” McDaniels said. “It takes practice, so I just kept working and working, and you’ll get better.”
McDaniels then took a picture with the children in attendance, a moment many of them will never forget.
“Seeing the community, seeing the smiles,” he said. “It’s just something I want to do every year. It feels good just to give back to the community.”
McDaniels was asked if he ever had the chance to meet an athlete as a child.
“Not until I was in high school, never when I was like a little kid,” McDaniels said. “So just doing something that wasn’t able to be done for me is always great.”
McDaniels later spoke on why giving back to the city of Minneapolis is a priority to him.
“Being off the court, people know who I am or just say encouraging things to me, so it’s a great feeling,” he said. “I’m grateful the city likes me, and I’m able to be here and play for them.”
With the Wolves winning six of seven games, McDaniels stopped at CityView. He also stopped at Nellie Stone Johnson Elementary to unload winter clothes before meeting with a jam-packed gymnasium of children, some of whom were overcome with the emotion of seeing a hero.
McDaniels finished by giving his advice to any child who’s trying to find their way.
“Always believe in yourself, and just follow your own route,” he said. “You’re on your own path and do whatever is comfortable for yourself.”
With Christmas around the corner, acts like this from McDaniels are why sports are important. For the children in attendance, meeting a sports star can offer an experience that can change the trajectory of their lives. At the very least, it can be a memory they can have forever. For McDaniels, purely judging off his smile, it would appear to be something he remembers forever, even if Crunch has more theatrics.
