Picture the scene: You’re a Timberwolves fan reveling in the aftermath of an unlikely play-in victory, and the cameras cut back to the studio to the scene of three complacent former players mocking your team for the apparent sin of celebrating.
“It’s the championship. See y’all next year,” said Charles Barkley, a man who doesn’t know what one actually feels like but will nonetheless judge the Wolves for taking joy from one of the few scintillas of success they’ve had in the past two decades.
IM CRYING LOL pic.twitter.com/0jY7Qg4QUc
— Ashley Nicole Moss (@AshNicoleMoss) April 13, 2022
Shaq agreed, so did Kenny Smith. The TNT crew laughed uproariously at those fools enjoying themselves.
Wolves fans at home looking forward to finally getting some adulation on national TV were greeted with a panel of playground bullies. If nothing else it was unprofessional, even by the standards of modern “hot take” sports analysis.
But the feeling was apparently shared by some of the game’s greats including LeBron James, and even the Star Tribune’s sports columnist Lavelle E. Neal, III., who said: “This is overboard.”
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 13, 2022
I would say “Michael Jordan was better” here, but let’s face it, having seen The Last Dance Jordan would probably have the same reaction, except he would have also taken Pat Bev standing on the table as some obscure, imaginary insult to motivate himself for tomorrow’s golf game.
Lord knows it’s been a miserable period for Wolves fans – one all-too-brief 2018 playoff appearance to speak of since the end of the KG era – but it’s also been a miserable few years for most of humankind.
You would think, then, that seeing a bunch of young players being genuinely excited after grinding out a gutsy win from the jaws of defeat would be a pleasant, temporary panacea to our woes, right?
Nope, shudder the thought that any player can take genuine pleasure in victory until the very moment they’re holding the NBA Championship. Presumably the winner of this year’s MLB wildcard rounds will be similarly treated when they celebrate with champagne?
The Wolves haven’t won anything, you say Charles? Well no shit. You’re talking to Minnesota fans. They expect to lose as a matter of habit, but you bet your ass they celebrate at a moment’s notice.
