There are times in an NBA game where the whole arena erupts into chants. Chants serve two purposes: they are either supposed to help the home team, or make life harder for the opposing team.
During the recent Miami Heat-Minnesota Timberwolves matchup, the Minnesota home crowd started to yell “Rachel Nichols” in order to heckle Miami Heat star, Jimmy Butler. The reasoning for that is a previous rumor that Jimmy Butler and Rachel Nichols were somehow involved with one another. The jeering didn’t have the desired effect though, as Jimmy Butler clearly wasn’t bothered based on the footage.
https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1463702357414404097
There is no doubt that a lot of the time, fans speculate on a variety of rumors. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the rumors are at all true. Some of the biggest NBA rumors turn out to be false, and this is likely one of them. Butler is known to be in a committed relationship.
Despite the fact that the rumors are likely false, this was some creative heckling from Minnesota Timberwolves fans. Of course, the fans in Minnesota don’t have the best relationship with Jimmy Butler, who used to play for the Timberwolves franchise. The way in which Jimmy Butler forced an exit made many among the Timberwolves’ faithful dislike him and his attitude. He did however lead the team to their last playoff appearance during the 2017-18 season.
The Minnesota Timberwolves did end up beating the Miami Heat, 113-101. The Timberwolves have quietly won 5 games in a row, and it’s clear that the young team is figuring out ways in which to win. Beating a top-tier Eastern Conference team like the Miami Heat is no easy feat. Hopefully, they are able to build on this victory, though there is a lot of season left to play. This could be the year that the Minnesota Timberwolves surprise everyone, but they’ll need more performances like this to do so.
