Timberwolves Rumors: Does KAT have bad work ethic?

The news last week broke that Minnesota Timberwolves’ Jimmy Butler was reportedly unhappy with the attitude of Karl-Anthony Towns, but is there any truth behind the rumor? If so, is KAT’s work ethic really that bad?

Just as soon as we got word that Tom Thibodeau was planning on offering Jimmy Butler a max-contract extension, we were met with rumors that Butler was unhappy with the attitude of some of the younger Minnesota Timberwolves, and was perhaps looking to link up with Kyrie Irving.

While we still don’t know just how true any of this news is, Butler’s agent has disputed the rumors, which may be good news for Wolves fans’ if he is speaking the truth.

The whole situation has forced us to look at the past season, and the relationship between Butler and the young duo of Towns and Andrew Wiggins, in a different light.

For instance, is it just me or does Butler look really angry after this dunk…

There were also rumors last season that Tom Thibodeau was experiencing ‘friction’ with the young center. Knowing Thibodeau, if this is true it’s very likely it could’ve been to do with Towns’ work ethic, as Thibs is a stickler for hard work and dedication.

Once again, we don’t have any proof these rumors are either true or false, so while we can speculate all we want, only those involved know the real situation.

Towns has been relatively quiet throughout the whole ideal, however he did post this video to social media Sunday, perhaps in response to the rumors surrounding his work ethic.

While a highly-produced and edited video can portray all sorts of things, this at least shows that at some point, Karl-Anthony Towns has been working.

Another video I stumbled across from last season showed Towns and Butler arguing after a play.

Of course an event like this would be frustrating, and Butler thinks that he had the ball covered, while Towns seems to be trying to defend himself or perhaps apologize. Butler certainly looks angry, perhaps angrier than he would be with no prior events adding fuel to the fire, but again it’s hard to know just what the real issue is.

While it’s easy to find the bad moments to twist a story in that direction, it’s important to note that clearly not all is bad. The duo had many great moments together throughout the season, where they can be seen celebrating together, laughing together and joking around together.

The video below shows Butler and Towns joking with each other, and is from the same month the above argument took place, so take that for what it’s worth.

Whether there really is an issue that has now built up to the point of no return is yet to be seen. It’s hard to know what’s going on behind the scenes when all we here are rumors and speculation. Towns and Butler combined to form a great duo last season, and if Thibodeau gets his way, will for years to come.

Time will tell whether Butler will sign his extension, and what the Wolves have in mind for Towns’ future (one would imagine a max extension would be coming his way too), but for now these are just two teammates preparing for the NBA season, surrounded by a flurry of rumors.

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