The 2018-19 NBA season will be remembered as the year of the comeback. Of headbands. It began on opening night, when a black bandana-clad Kyrie Irving freelanced as an estranged Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. It continued when the Philadelphia 76ers underwent the most comprehensive makeover of any team, leading to the formation of a headband […]
For more than a month, Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau had a common refrain when asked about the Jimmy Butler saga: The team couldn’t allow itself to be distracted by the dysfunction and the rumors surrounding their star swingman, who requested a trade before camp. But after Friday’s loss in Sacramento — which left Minnesota winless […]
MINNEAPOLIS — Jimmy Butler, the four-time All-Star who asked to be traded out of Minnesota, is an NBA alpha — or, at worst, a dominant beta. Butler is one of the league’s best two-way talents, capable of changing a game on offense or defense. He has developed a hard-nosed reputation as someone who can quickly […]
Among the stranger storylines this NBA offseason is the near-constant Thibs Watch, which lights up like a Bat Signal whenever a former player of the Timberwolves coach becomes available on the free-agent market. The legend grew a bit more Monday when Luol Deng, who played for Tom Thibodeau in Chicago, reached an agreement to rejoin […]
Welcome to The Lab, FiveThirtyEight’s basketball podcast. On this week’s show (March 1, 2018), Neil, Chris and Kyle chat about Jimmy Butler’s recent injury and how it might affect the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are currently on track to make the playoffs. Next, they dive into tanking in the NBA. As of our taping, eight teams […]