Before Jimmy Butler found an NBA home with the Miami Heat, he was teammates with Karl-Anthony Towns on the Minnesota Timberwolves. The two played together for the 2017-18 campaign and part of the 2018-19 season.
Ahead of Miami’s showdown against the New York Knicks — Towns’ current team — on Wednesday night, Towns was asked about his relationship with Butler and provided a nonanswer to the question.
A few months back, audio of Butler and Towns talking trash back in the year 2021 was leaked online. Butler can be heard in the video calling his former teammate “soft as baby s—” as well as a “loser.”
Towns told Butler to call Rachel Nichols, which seemed to be a reference to the rumor that Butler hooked up with the former ESPN employee during the NBA bubble.
The Knicks and Butler’s Heat head into Wednesday’s bout with different records. The Knicks own a 1-2 record on the season so far, with their losses coming against the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers. New York’s lone win came against the team that eliminated it in the second round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs in the Indiana Pacers on Oct. 25.
Towns also hasn’t gotten off to the greatest start to his Knicks tenure. So far in his maiden season in New York, he is averaging 15.3 points on 50.0 percent shooting from the field along with 10.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. In addition, he scored just 13 points in the Knicks’ most recent game, which was against the Cavaliers.
Conversely, the Heat have won two of their first three games after losing to the Orlando Magic in embarrassing fashion in their season opener on Oct. 23. Miami has recent wins over the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons under its belt, and the Heat can extend their winning streak to three with a victory over the Knicks.
Perhaps Heat fans will see Butler talk some trash to Towns once again on Wednesday, and it’ll be interesting to figure out whether Towns will bounce back from his subpar performance against Cleveland.