Thrown to the Wolves.(Craig Kilborn Goes Camping)

Flip Saunders invited me to training camp about a month ago. I trained by playing halfcourt at Garry Shandling's house. Things were going great. I regularly decimated Ali G. with my lump hook and took several charges from an aggressive David Duchovny. Unfortunately, three weeks before camp, while outhustling Kevin Nealon for a loose ball, I strained my back and had to suspend my workouts.

So, I almost bailed. I thought, I'm 41. I'm way, way past my prime. I'm hurt. And these are the best players in the world, and it could be devastatingly embarrassing for them to have me come to camp and rack up a triple-double. Above all, I'm a Timberwolves fan, and I don't want to shake the team's confidence.

But I sucked it up and went. I had four goals: Don't get hurt, make a nice pass, hit a shot in an intrasquad game and spend some quality time with Michael Olowokandi. I accomplished the first two. The best I could do in the intrasquad game was a free throw. As for the Kandi Man, he and I watched The Hours on DVD in his Escalade. When he comes to L.A., he might crash on my floor.

My proudest moment? I made a really nice pass in practice--so nice that Kevin McHale came all the way around the court on his bum ankle to give me a high-five. He compared me to a young Pistol Pete, which made my day.

As far as talking trash goes, when I was playing HORSE with Kevin Garnett, I called a bank shot and yelled "Larry!" as I released it, referring to Larry Bird. Note to young ...