Jimmy Butler, KAT beef during game: 'You're soft as baby (expletive)'
Well over two years after Jimmy Butler forced his way out of Minnesota, the feud between Butler and Karl-Anthony Towns is still going strong – and it was on display for fans watching at home to hear Friday night.
During Miami's win over the Wolves, Butler was heard on the TV broadcast via on-court microphones telling Towns he's "soft as baby s**t." While much of the dialogue is muddled, Towns appeared to laugh it off, though Butler kept going.
"You’re a loser, I already punked you once," Butler said.
Jimmy Butler called Karl a loser “I already punked you once” pic.twitter.com/rNv0XZt6Mm
— Thomas Sullivan (@Yfz84) May 8, 2021
The beef between Butler and Towns goes back to Butler's short stint in Minnesota, where he famously mocked Towns and former teammate Andrew Wiggins for their practice habits, eventually forcing his way out in a trade to Philadelphia.
Asked about the trash talk, Wolves star rookie Anthony Edwards referred to it as "regular conversation" during a game.
"Man, they grown men, dog. They just be talkin', havin' a regular conversation, if you ask me... It's no competition if we not talkin' s**t to each other," Edwards said, according to Dane Moore.
Even Wolves TV analyst Jim Petersen got involved, tweeting to Moore that Butler wasn't talking trash after D'Angelo Russell blocked a Butler dunk attempt last season.
Jimmy wasn’t talking smack when DLo was catching his shit last year. pic.twitter.com/UAWMkSQh7p
— Jim Petersen (@JimPeteHoops) May 8, 2021
In the end, it appears that Edwards may be right that talking trash is a normal part of the game, even if KAT and Butler have a history. According to The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski, the night ended with the two have a "nice little conversation."
Jimmy and KAT a nice little conversation to end it.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) May 8, 2021
Butler helped lead the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals in last year's COVID-delayed summer playoffs, and the Heat are on their way to the postseason again this year.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.