Despite beating the Clippers in the play-in tournament Tuesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been made the laughing stock of the NBA. Not for decades of failures, this time for how they celebrated winning a game that officially made them the No. 7 seed in the playoffs.
Target Center was raucous. Patrick Beverley and Anthony Edwards jumped on the scorer’s table. Karl-Anthony Towns kissed his girlfriend. Beverley cried as he left the court.
Pat Bev and Ant going WILD 😂 pic.twitter.com/jxdOffwBei
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 13, 2022
The emotional moment for the Timberwolves was used as comedy fodder for the NBA on TNT inside crew and numerous professional athletes who overlooked Minnesota’s excitement with a been-there-done-that attitude. TNT even mockingly played Queen’s “We are the Champions” while showing highlights of the celebration.
https://twitter.com/JackBenjaminPxP/status/1514102340843978758
“I want to thank you guys for another great year,” Barkley mocked on the postgame show, suggesting that Minnesota was acting like they won the NBA title.
“That was the quickest playoffs we’ve ever had,” said Ernie Johnson
“They was kissing babies, god damn,” Barkley added, later calling the Wolves the dumbest team in the NBA only to go ahead and pick them to beat the Grizzlies in their upcoming best-of-seven series.
"We need 'One Shining Moment'" 😂
Inside the NBA crew reacts to the Timberwolves' celebration after clinching the 7th seed. pic.twitter.com/kMkhQBhKkN
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 13, 2022
Four-time NBA champion LeBron James, whose Lakers didn’t make the playoffs, laughed at the celebration.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 13, 2022
Kyle Kuzma mocked Minnesota, too.
Minnesota just won the chip 🤣🤣🤣
— kuz (@kylekuzma) April 13, 2022
After the game, Patrick Beverley was shown in an Instagram video still riled up in the locker room. Beverley says: “I told you we going to the playoffs, but nobody believed me. Weak a** Clippers, beat they mother******* a**. Get the f*** out of here.”
But while the celebration may have seemed over the top for some, the reality remains that the Timberwolves haven’t won a playoff series since 2004. And yes, it was a play-in game, but it’s the closest thing to advancing this franchise has had in ages. NBA insider Zach Harper might’ve levied the best analysis of the team’s reaction.
“They’re either the worst franchise in modern NBA history or they’re second behind the Kings. This [sh**] basically is the championship for the franchise. They’ve got to let out the emotions for this one,” Harper tweeted.
