Former Detroit Pistons bad boy John Salley joined ESPN’s Mike Greenberg on the radio today, and three minutes of their three-hour show was spent bashing Minnesota.
Greenberg simply asked Salley if he thinks NBA Rookie of the Year, Wolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns, is the “future of the NBA?
Salley: “I’m not going to go too far away from that. I’m going to agree with you,” Salley started out before adding: “I think he needs to get out of Minnesota. He and (Andrew) Wiggins need to get out of Minnesota. No one’s gonna really be a fan of that.”
Greenberg: Why even have a team in Minnesota?
Salley: “I said the same thing. When it’s freezing cold and we had to go from building to building through a tube, I said, ‘why are we in Minnesota? Well it’s a great sports town – it’s a great football town.’ But I don’t think the league is gonna go and buy Wolves jerseys.”
Greenberg: Can Towns make them buy jerseys?
Salley: “No. He can’t.”
What does Salley think Towns needs?
“I think he needs to be in a place that literally gets more TV time, and the NBA is more focused on – and those are the teams on the coast,” Salley said.
Note to John Salley, the following players were among the top 15 jersey sales as of Jan. 20, via NBA.com.
- LeBron James – Cleveland
- Russell Westbrook – Oklahoma City
- Kevin Durant – Oklahoma City
- Paul George – Indiana
- Anthony Davis – New Orleans
Listen back to the interview here. The bashing begins right around the 37-minute mark.
Watching the idiocy of John Salley regarding his comments about Karl-Anthony Towns on @MikeAndMike. I think he's stuck in 1987.
— Jim Petersen (@JimPeteHoops) May 19, 2016
I know next to nothing about the NBA but even I know how ignorant @thejohnsalley's comments about KAT and Minnesota were this morning.
— B-List Ryan (@BrianHalverson) May 19, 2016
John Salley suggesting that KAT can only be relevant in a "big market" is such an antiquated take. #douche
— Julius Collins (@thejuicevox) May 19, 2016
https://twitter.com/efremsmith/status/733249696672714754
John Salley saying Karl-Anthony Towns needs to "get out of Minnesota" is the most tone deaf thing I've heard in a long time @MikeAndMike
— Brad Berreman (@bradberreman24) May 19, 2016
