Wolves troll, fans boo Jimmy Butler in Target Center return
Jimmy Butler finished with 12 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals to help lead the 76ers over the Timberwolves 118-109 Saturday night, but not without trading jabs with the team he helped end a 13-year playoff drought last season.
Butler was booed loudly by fans during starting lineup introductions, revealing that the wounds Butler left when he demanded a trade before the season are still fresh. Even the team got in on the act, playing Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" over the arena speakers as Butler was introduced.
Jimmy Butler’s welcome back to Target Center. pic.twitter.com/6gcIlHVGg6
— Kyle Ratke (@Kyle_Ratke) March 31, 2019
When Butler came down grabbing his lower back after a play in the first quarter, some fans in the announced crowd of 18,978 booed him as he was clearly in pain.
"I don't care about being loved all the time," Butler said after the game, via ESPN. "It's no fun that way."
No, keyboard warrior. It’s fine to boo him at any point in the game, except when it looks like he’s injured. Comes back into the game and is clearly fine? Boo away. But you’re trash if you take that opportunity to boo someone. https://t.co/XdzFbgjueS
— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) March 31, 2019
Before the game, Butler was sitting outside the Wolves' locker room when players arrived, and he gave Karl-Anthony Towns a hug that ESPN called "an uncomfortable embrace."
Towns and Andrew Wggins were the target of consistent criticism from Butler during their short time as teammates, with the four-time All-Star questioning the former No. 1 overall picks' effort and focus on defense.
As for more trolling, the Wolves got the ball rolling when they tweeted a welcome back message to Justin Patton, saying it was the "night we've all been waiting for."
the night we’ve been waiting all season for...
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) March 30, 2019
Welcome back, @JustinPatton17! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/yuyWJ429KN
Patton was traded to Philly with Butler in the deal that brought Robert Covington, Dario Saric and Jerryd Bayless to Minnesota.
In a couple of weeks Butler and the 76ers will be in the playoffs while the Wolves will be watching from home for the 14th time in the last 15 years.
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.