Timberwolves All-Star Jimmy Butler was carried off the court Friday in Houston after suffering an unspecified right knee injury.
Butler was hurt late in the third quarter after grabbing an offensive rebound. Butler took a hard dribble, pivoted and went down without any contact while passing the ball to teammate Taj Gibson.
Butler was helped to the locker room by Karl-Anthony Towns and Cole Aldrich. Butler was later shown hopping on his left leg, unable to put any weight on his right, in a Toyota Center hallway.
2:08 Play GameTime: Jimmy Butler injury update.
Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau said after the game -- a 120-102 Rockets victory -- that Butler would be re-evaluated with an MRI on Saturday after x-rays at the arena were inconclusive.
"You've got to wait for the doctors to do their thing," Thibodeau said. "Until they do the MRI, it's speculating. We'll know more tomorrow. I don't want to speculate on what it might be, but we'll just hope for the best."
Butler did not speak to reporters after the game but was in high spirits, according to multiple teammates. He was visited in the training room by Harden.
"His first reaction was, 'I'm OK, I'll be OK,'" Wolves forward Taj Gibson said. "But he was smiling. That was a big thing and it was a huge relief for everybody in this locker room. He's a warrior so we've just got to hold it down for him."
The Timberwolves have lost four of their last six.
"Injuries are an unfortunate part of the NBA," Thibodeau said. "The next guy has to get up and be ready to get the job done. Every night is a challenge, but dealing with your injuries and being mentally tough when you face adversity is a big part of winning. We have to find a way to win."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Jimmy Butler left Friday’s game against the Houston Rockets with an apparent non-contact right knee injury, and will not return to the game. The Minnesota Timberwolves announced that he’ll undergo an MRI on Saturday morning to determine the severity of the injury.
The Wolves are optimistic that Butler may have avoided tearing his ACL, according to a report from David Aldridge.
MRI Saturday will give final word, but there is some optimism in @JimmyButler camp that he may have at least avoided the worst—an ACL tear—on Friday. — David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) February 24, 2018
Butler suffered the injury while pivoting in the lane after an offensive rebound. He planted his leg in an ordinary move, but there was some contact from Nene to Butler’s knee moments before. It’s hard to say whether that was related.
Here’s video the play.
Jimmy Butler needed to be helped off the court, really hard to tell what happened to his knee pic.twitter.com/sQ5GsSWGqq — CJ Fogler (@cjzero) February 24, 2018
And here’s video of Butler walking off the court, needing help from teammates. If you want to speculate and try to read Butler’s lips, then some are saying that he may have said, “It’s torn.”
It does look like Jimmy says "it's torn" (/r @Wells_P) pic.twitter.com/y8UhJ0k9DE — CJ Fogler (@cjzero) February 24, 2018
Butler leads the league in minutes under Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau, averaging 37.3 minutes per game in 55 games this season. He didn’t play a minute in the All-Star Game, citing a need for rest. Certainly, that Butler suffered an injury so soon after, even if it hopefully doesn’t end up being severe, is concerning, especially since many had criticized Thibodeau for his heavy-handed rotations that arguably overused his stars.
That said, we’re wishing the best for Butler, and hopefully this injury isn’t nearly as severe as it might have seemed.
NBA: After missing out in the NBA finals last year, LeBron James has finally gotten one over Steph Curry with Team LeBron downing Team Stephen by three points at the Staples Centre.
JIMMY Butler came under fire after deciding to sit on the bench throughout the All-Star Game to gain some rest.
Fellow NBA player Lou Williams voiced his displeasure with the Minnesota Timberwolves guard via his Twitter account.
@JimmyButler u serious bruh? Lol — Lou Williams (@TeamLou23) February 19, 2018
Williams was hoping to be named an All-Star reserve and after watching Butler glue himself to the bench for the entire game, his frustrations boiled over.
Fast forward to today and ESPN sideline reporter Cassidy Hubbarth divulged a conversation she had with Butler on the topic.
“My thing is this: To Lou and to whoever else thinks they’re an All-Star, with all due respect, LeBron and them got $100,000 for winning,” Butler said.
“If you got 100K to put up and we play one another, you guard me, I guard you, I’m gonna show you why.
“All this talk? Put $100,000 up, and I’ll show you why and where I’m at.”
Butler is referencing the money awarded to the winning side from the All-Star Game who were each awarded the substantial figure.
The news of the challenge quickly encapsulated social media with many fans eager to see the two men throw down the cash and face off.
If I know @TeamLou23, he'll show up on Jimmy Butler's doorstep asking, "You ready to hoop? Let's go. Grab your $100K and let's do this." — Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) February 24, 2018
Sadly, the meeting may not be taking place anytime soon.
With a little over three minutes remaining in the third quarter, Butler was situated in a congested lane and as he tried to find a path to the ring, he fell and clutched at his right knee.
Here's the Jimmy Butler injury pic.twitter.com/uu58htE19r — Chris Long (@ChrisLongKSTP) February 24, 2018
Butler was unable to put any weight on his right leg as he was helped off the court by the medical staff.
No official word has been announced on the severity of the injury, but it doesn’t look good for the star guard or the Timberwolves hopes of competing deep into the playoffs.
CHRIS PAUL’S TOY STORY OUTFIT
NBA players are known these days for wearing outlandish and often at times flamboyant outfits prior to and after games.
Prior to the Timberwolves taking on the Houston Rockets, Chris Paul continued that trend.
Entering the stadium in what can only be described as Woody’s outfit from Toy Story, Paul got into the cowboy theme for ‘Go Texan Day’.
What in tarnation pic.twitter.com/CeeqOkTMnq — Sports Illustrated (@SInow) February 23, 2018
Did Chris Paul lose a bet? (pics via @MarkBermanFox26) pic.twitter.com/m5APiFSg6k — Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) February 23, 2018
However silly Paul may have looked pre-game, it didn’t affect his on-court impact as he torched the Timberwolves defence to the tune of 14 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists as the Rockets ran away with the 120-102 win.
Jimmy Butler chose to sit out of the thrilling All-Star Game last weekend to rest, which raised some eyebrows.
One immediate response came from the Clippers’ Lou Williams, who felt he was snubbed from the game. He tweeted at Butler and wrote “u serious bruh?” Because this league is so much fun, we got to hear what Butler’s response to that tweet was before the Timberwolves-Rockets game on Friday night.
@JimmyButler u serious bruh? Lol — Lou Williams (@TeamLou23) February 19, 2018
ESPN‘s Cassidy Hubbarth reported that this is what four-time All-Star Butler said to her earlier in the day:
“My thing is this: To Lou and to whoever else thinks they’re an All-Star, with all due respect, LeBron and them got $100,000 for winning. If you got 100K to put up and we play one another, you guard me, I guard you, I’m gonna show you why. All this talk? Put $100,000 up, and I’ll show you why and where I’m at.”
Wow.@CassidyHubbarth reporting Jimmy Butler will play Lou Williams 1-on-1 for $100k if he wants to put his money where his mouth is re: that tweet from the all-star game NEED THIS pic.twitter.com/Rw2S9hS026 — Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) February 24, 2018
It’s true. USA TODAY Sports confirmed that the All-Stars on the winning team got $100,000 this year. The amount was raised from the previous $50,000 to try to help make it more competitive. The losers still got the same $25,000, per ESPN.
Unfortunately for Butler, he wasn’t on the winning team this year, but he’s saying he wanted to stay on the roster to try to get the award. Don’t be surprised if NBA commissioner Adam Silver makes a change to prevent players from pulling this off again with the prize money at $100K.
Hubbarth also shared what Butler told her was his reasoning for sitting out. He said to her:
“Look, I’m the one who has to guard James Harden for 40 minutes, and I know the fans are upset, but they need to understand it is a long grind of a season, and I’m not trying to cut my minutes, but when I have the opportunity to take a break, I will.”
What do you think about this?
