AP Photo/Craig LassigJimmy Butler's heated practice with the Minnesota Timberwolves while he was seeking a trade from the team in October 2018 has become the stuff of legend.
Butler and a group of backups reportedly won scrimmages against the team's starters, and he yelled at then-president of basketball operations and head coach Tom Thibodeau and general manager Scott Layden, among others.
During an appearance on Paul George's Podcast P, Karl-Anthony Towns recalled the infamous practice:
Podcast P with Paul George @PodcastPShow"We had our differences but we've seen each other at All-Stars and we've talked."<br><br>KAT finally shares his side of the infamous Jimmy Butler practice story and their relationship.<br><br>Full story on the <a href="https://twitter.com/KarlTowns?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KarlTowns</a> episode is PREMIERING NOW: <a href="https://t.co/6CGnTpAKJr">https://t.co/6CGnTpAKJr</a> <a href="https://t.co/EOYR919qbb">pic.twitter.com/EOYR919qbb</a>
"We had practice. We had that game. It was the four starters, and it was Jimmy, his boy from Marquette [Darius Johnson-]Odom and three other guys who ended up—I think one of them actually ended up being a starter for us. I was balling. He was passing a lot. He got one free throw. I know we had a moment where we were arguing with each other. He said some s--t. I said some s--t back. I wasn't going for that."[Thibodeau] started getting that shakes. See Thibs shaking, and I was like—Thibs, like, getting happy, he's like smiling, you know. He got a little smile with that s--t."They ended up winning the game. I think they got a last-second shot to go in. So, it was like a quick, like, little scrimmage, whatever. And then I remember the whole thing happened where he's screaming at the people and everything. I guess practice is over."Butler confirmed there was a heated practice in a televised interview with Rachel Nichols at the time.
"A lot of it is true," he said. "But you have to think: I haven't played basketball in so long. And I'm so passionate, and I love the game. And I don't do it for any other reason except to compete and go up against the best to try to prove that I can hang. So, all my emotion came out at one time. Was it the right way to do it? No. But I can't control that when I'm out there competing. That's my love of the game. That's raw me, me at my finest, me at my purest. That's what you're going to get inside the lines."
Towns said he pulled Butler aside the next day and told him: "I'm about winning, and I'm not here for all that. So, if we're about winning, then I don't really care about anything else that happened the day before. I'll let all that s--t slide. All the rumor s--t in the summer, I don't really care, as long as I could come to work and we could win games. That's all I care about."
But Butler was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers a month later and signed with the Miami Heat after the season.
Despite the tumultuous breakup, Towns said the two of them are in a good place.
"We had our differences, but we've seen each other at All-Stars and we've talked," he told George. "I've asked how his family was; he's asked how my family was. I think we're at a cool spot."
After the Butler trade, the Wolves went three seasons without a playoff berth before first-round exits in each of the past two years. The team still hasn't won a playoff series since the 2003-04 season, when Kevin Garnett and Co. reached the Western Conference Finals.
Butler, meanwhile, has led the Heat to four straight playoff appearances, an NBA Finals appearance in 2019-20 and an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2021-22. The Heat hold a 2-1 series advantage against the New York Knicks in the second round of this year's postseason.
ncG1vNJzZmianJqupLTEq6meqJ%2BnwW%2BvzqZmmqqknrCtsdJoaGloZ2qAdYSMpJirpF2Wu7W0zqewZqyfrLu0edOao6SrXZ%2B2rrnYZpmurJyav26%2BxKWYraGfo8Cptc9moKeekaK8tr%2BMraCmmpWnxLC41Z6qZqiilrC1tcKe