The Minnesota Timberwolves’ first-round series versus the Memphis Grizzlies has been one of the most entertaining ones of the playoffs thus far.
That said – it’s has also featured its fair share of controversy.
Case in point: recent accusations that Wolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns attempted a number of dirty plays in an effort to injure Grizzlies guard Ja Morant.
The videos largely speak for themselves:
For all of u in the comments saying this was incidental, he did this a minute into the game. It was blatant, dangerous and intentional. Ja is very fortunate right here. pic.twitter.com/LEdHqWUuYg
— TJ (@TraMurr) April 20, 2022
Reactions poured in immediately:
Yes that’s pretty embarrassing it’s on video quite a few times ..
— JO$HUA (@Joshua3Michael) April 20, 2022
@JaMorant PLEASE LET THE @NBA know about this
— Twaice (@bobbytwaice) April 21, 2022
Wtf is Kat doing here
— NRL IS LIFE (@MohamadAddouj) April 21, 2022
Yikes for KAT
— Wcottie Warnes (@Wcottie4) April 20, 2022
Though some people did come to Towns’ defense:
1. They are friends
2. He’s trying to get in front of him. He was just late getting there . The game is fast . Stop reaching— William Wilkins (@WilliamBill120) April 20, 2022
He’s late getting to a spot, he moves clumsily all over the court if you watch him, he’s very athletic but looks unathletic at the same time
— buford (@MNSP0RTSPAIN) April 20, 2022
It just looks like a foul to me. He’s not undercutting him or anything. This is just basketball
— Pat klafehn (@Patkla1) April 20, 2022
Obviously everyone can decide for themselves whether Towns was playing dirty or not. But given that the NBA literally let one player break another’s wrist without doing much about it, it’s unlikely that league officials will step in to intervene.
Towns is something of a polarizing player. Everyone from Kevin Durant to Draymond Green has taken shots at him over the years. This is unlikely to help raise his stock in the eyes of his peers. Especially since the target of his allegedly dirty play is one of the NBA’s fastest rising young stars, who recently achieved new levels of fan adoration when he took a girl off Drake.
— Game 7 (@game7__) April 21, 2022
The next few games of this Wolves vs Grizzlies series will be telling. If Towns pulls something similar again – folks will take notice.
If this was a one-off, it will likely just be forgotten.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
