There was nothing quite like going up against the kid who called his shot on the baseball field.
When I was young, we’d play baseball underneath the watertower, in a field next to Heritage Park. Every now and then one of the local kids would have a friend from out of town visiting, and when he came up to the plate he’d circle his bat around a few times, and then point to a spot in the sky like Babe Ruth calling his shot. At that point, everyone locks in. The pitcher’s throwing with more heat than usual, fielders run faster, and it doesn’t matter if it’s not the “right” play, you’re trying to get the new kid out.
The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors have found themselves in a similar spot.
At All-Star Weekend this year, Draymond Green took to the desk during a TNT Pre-Game and said the following:
“I think we’re gonna win a championship. … I’m sorry, I said I think we’re going to win a championship but I lied. We are going to win a championship.”
The quote would be fuel enough for both teams on its own. For Golden State, they’d look to prove Draymond right and show they can recapture that old glory, while Minnesota would look to play legend killer once again. But what gives more weight to the quote is that it came at the end of Green praising one player specifically: Jimmy Butler.
The same Jimmy Butler that has a…we’ll call it a history with Minnesota.
Now, seven years removed from that infamous practice and Rachel Nichols interview, Minnesota’s looking to not only prove that they should be considered a powerhouse in this Western Conference, but they’ll also look to prove Butler’s heated “You can’t win without me” rant wrong.
For the Timberwolves, they’ve spent the last two seasons as the NBA’s “giant killers”. Last season, after making swift work of the Phoenix Suns, the Timberwolves gutted out an impressive underdog victory against the defending champion Denver Nuggets. This year, Minnesota made almost embarrassing work over LeBron James, arguably the face of the NBA for the last 20 years, and got a revenge series over Luka Doncic, who sent them home in 2024.
For the Wolves, this upcoming series means a little more to them. Not only would it be a chance to knock off another league powerhouse in Stephen Curry, but it’s a chance to slay the demon of their past in Jimmy Butler, who up to this year had avoided Minnesota in the playoffs while playing in the Eastern Conference.
But Minnesota won’t be the only one looking to prove something. When you are that kid, the one who calls your shot under the shadow of the watertower, the pressure gets turned to 100. You dig in, and your mentality is about one thing: going yard.
The Warriors have been going through a few years of turmoil. Everyone still sees that Curry has what has always made him magic, but over the last two or three years questions have started to swirl about whether or not Green himself can live up to what he once was, and Curry’s splash brother partner – Klay Thompson – lost so much of his shine that the Warriors let him go to the Dallas Mavericks. This year, the question on everyone’s mind was whether or not Golden State was hurting themselves pretending like nothing’s changed in the last decade.
Then, something happened. On Sunday, Golden State pulled off a near-miraculous act of time travel. Curry’s new backcourt partner, Buddy Heild, dropped 33 and drew comparisons to the now-departed Thompson. For his part, Green played like it was a crucial game in the 2018 finals, and the Warriors were aided by another weapon, with Jimmy Butler filling the role of Kevin Durant. It was a game so impressive, you can’t help but wonder if that magic is still somewhere in the Warriors.
Don’t let that confuse you though: Minnesota is younger. Minnesota is tougher. Minnesota is taller and stronger on the defensive end of the court. And to top it off they have home court advantage. If Golden State is looking to prove that they’ve still got what made them great all those years ago, they’re going to need to play like the underdogs they are.
And that’s where things are left heading into Tuesday’s tip-off: 0-0 count, nobody on base and you’ve just called your shot. The pitcher grinds his jaw, you dig the tip of your shoe into the soil beneath you, and everyone’s getting ready to prove you wrong.
Time to go yard.