Much has been made of a postgame interview involving Minnesota Timberwolves stars Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns following their team’s 4-0 sweep of the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night.
Great answer here from Anthony Edwards on KAT’s importance, and for him to “stop f**king fouling.” pic.twitter.com/B079yJ0Eo4
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) April 29, 2024
Most notably, Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler’s leadership approach was compared to that of Edwards.
Following Sunday night’s 122-116 game between the Wolves and Suns, Edwards praised his star big man while also offering some constructive criticism. A post on X (formerly known as Twitter) highlighted the differences between Edwards and Butler when it comes to leadership and their relationships with Towns.
Having Ant immediately come in after Jimmy to prove that you don't need to be a Jimmy level dickbag to raise the level of your teammates is so great man. https://t.co/1oRnvKIuK8
— Merk (@Merk_84) April 29, 2024
Of course, Butler had a very rocky tenure with the Wolves earlier in his career. During that time, there were reports of Butler being highly critical of Towns. He eventually forced his way off the team via trade.
In the video, it is clear that Edwards and Towns have an incredibly warm and supportive relationship. In fact, the positive and supportive energy that every player in the Wolves’ rotation displays seems to be a big reason why the team has gotten off to such a hot start in the playoffs.
While the video is great and response to it may have some merit, former NBA player Solomon Hill took to the social media platform to take issue with the tweet comparing Butler and Edwards. Rightfully so, Hill pointed out that swapping Butler for Edwards is far from the only change that the Timberwolves organization has made in recent years.
woah, instead of making it a negative jimmy post, maybe think about the players around these guys, conley, gobert, (arguably the best defender to play the game), front office movement, new joint ownership, there’s a lot of positive forces moving to not negate it into a jimmy spin
— solomon hill (@solohill) April 29, 2024
While Butler is known to be a heavily critical teammate, he has also been loved by his teammates during many of his stops throughout his NBA career. His time with the Miami Heat has featured a few bumps along the way, but for the most part, it has been a very happy pairing.
Unfortunately for both Butler and the Heat, the superstar is currently out of his team’s playoff lineup due to a knee injury. Despite his absence, the Heat have managed to put up a fight against the No. 1 seed Boston Celtics. That series is currently sitting at 2-1 in favor of the Celtics with Game 4 set to tip on Monday night.
As for the Wolves, they’re one of the feel-good stories of the NBA this season. Thanks to their 4-0 sweep of the Suns, they’ll get to sit back and watch the remainder of the Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Lakers series to find out who they’ll face in the second round of the playoffs.
