Remember Jimmy Butler? He was the disgruntled former member of the Timberwolves who helped Minnesota end their 14-year playoff drought all while causing a circus of distractions leading to his eventual trade to the Philadelphia 76ers.
How could we forget.
Butler recently sat down with Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports where he discussed his relationship with his former teammates as well as what wants for the organization.
“I still talk to some of the guys,” said Butler. “I want them to be great.”
“Like who Jimmy?” asked Haynes.
“Talk to Tyus, Wiggs a little bit, talk to Jeff (Teague), talk to Taj (Gibson), Ryan Saunders all those coaches”
Seems like he left out a certain name, eh? Heck, even Hayes noticed and asked Butler the same thing.
“I know. Ain’t nothing wrong with that,” said Butler. “I didn’t say I talk to everybody. But that don’t mean I don’t want KAT to be great. I want KAT to be great. I want KAT to have everything he wants out of his game. I want Minnesota to win. I want them to be successful.”
“I want Wiggs to be successful. I want Tyus to be a starter. I want everybody to be as successful as they can, make as much money as they can, be able to provide for their family and more for a long time to come. I have no bad things to say about anybody.”
Just reading between the lines a little bit, it seems KAT and Butler aren’t exactly on speaking terms but that doesn’t mean he wishes ill will on Minnesota’s franchise player.
Towns’ former college coach, John Calipari, told ESPN earlier this month that Butler bullied Towns in Minnesota.
“If a guy can bully you, he will bully you,” said Calipari. “And that’s what Jimmy did to Karl. C’mon, that’s the league.”
In the 12 games Butler and Towns shared the court together this season, Towns averaged 19 points on 45 percent shooting while grabbing about 10 rebound per game.
Since the trade, Towns has been a monster offensively, averaging nearly 24 points on 51 percent shooting and nearly 13 rebounds per game.
