Timberwolves forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns has been named the NBA’s Social Justice Champion for the 2023/24 season, the league announced in a press release. The four-time All-Star is a voting rights advocate and supported Minnesota’s Restore the Vote bill last year, which “restores the right to vote to thousands of formerly incarcerated individuals.” Towns also advocates for changes to the criminal justice and education systems in the U.S. Heat center Bam Adebayo, Pelicans guard CJ McCollum, Thunder wing Lindy Waters and Clippers guard Russell Westbrook were the other finalists. Here’s mor ..read more

Rudy Gobert, who was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year this week, is grateful how the Timberwolves organization stuck by him after a rough first year in Minnesota, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes. “When things didn’t go as smoothly as we wanted them to last year, they never doubted me,” Gobert said. “They have shown me love every day, pushing me to be better every day, and I really appreciate that.” He also feels the entire city has embraced him after many people called the blockbuster trade with Utah a disastrous move during and after last season. “I think we are trying t ..read more

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has been selected as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the third time in four years, the league announced (via Twitter). Jokic won the Michael Jordan Trophy by a wide margin, being named on all 99 ballots and collecting 79 votes for first place, 18 for second place and two for third place, giving him a total of 926 points. Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished second, collecting 640 total points by coming in first on 15 ballots, second on 40, third on 40, fourth on three and fifth on one. Rounding out the top five were Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (4-36-50 ..read more

Nuggets guard Jamal Murray has been fined $100K for throwing multiple objects in the direction of a game official during Game 2 of their playoff series against the Timberwolves, the league announced in a press release. However, Murray averted a suspension. Murray threw a towel toward the court during the second quarter of the Nuggets’ 106-80 loss on Monday, then tossed a heat pack that made it onto the court during live play (Twitter video link). The incident, which Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch referred to after the game as “dangerous” and “inexcusable,” wasn’t caught in the moment ..read more

Rudy Gobert has been named the Defensive Player of the Year for the fourth time in his career, the NBA announced on Tuesday (via Twitter). The Timberwolves center joins Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace as the only four-time winners of the award. Gobert also claimed the award in 2018, 2019, and 2021 when he played for Utah. Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama, who was unanimously voted the Rookie of the Year on Tuesday, finished second in the voting, with the Heat‘s Bam Adebayo a distant third. Gobert was the league’s second-leading rebounder (12.9 per game) and sixth-leading shot-blocker (2.1). Mor ..read more

It was a miserable night on Monday for Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, who scored just eight points on 3-of-18 shooting, didn’t make a three-pointer, and committed four turnovers as Denver lost a second consecutive game at home to the Timberwolves to fall behind 2-0 in the Western Conference semifinals. At one point in the second quarter, a frustrated Murray was captured on camera throwing a heat pack onto the floor from the bench during a live play (Twitter video link). The incident, which Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch referred to after the game as “dangerous” and “inexcusable,” wasn’t caug ..read more

While Defensive Player of the Year favorite Rudy Gobert has earned much of the credit for anchoring a Timberwolves defense that ranked No. 1 in the NBA this season, Minnesota turned in an impressive defensive performance without Gobert available on Monday, limiting the Nuggets to just 80 points on 34.9% shooting and forcing 19 turnovers in a Game 2 blowout. “We’ve had some really, really good defensive efforts this year, but that has to be right up there with the best of them,” Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “On the ball, off the ball, the physicality, th ..read more

Rudy Gobert will miss Game 2 of the Timberwolves’ series against the Nuggets, Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tweets. Head coach Chris Finch told the assembled media during the pregame press conference that Gobert wouldn’t make it to Denver, in part due to weather conditions. Numerous flights to Denver have been delayed today due to windy conditions, Bennett Durando of the Denver Post tweets. Gobert left the team after Game 1 due to the birth of his first child and was listed as questionable to play earlier in the day. Gobert, the favorite to win the Defensive Player of the Year awa ..read more

Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has been downgraded to questionable for Game 2 against the Nuggets on Monday night for personal reasons, tweets Sam Amick of The Athletic. According to Amick (Twitter link), based on conversations with Wolves officials, it sounds as if Gobert’s availability is “completely up in the air.” His status is believed to be related to the birth of his first child, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets. Gobert only scored six points in Minnesota’s Game 1 victory, but played an important role in the win, grabbing 13 rebounds and blocking three shots. The Wolves were a +12 during ..read more

Timberwolves All-Star Anthony Edwards torched Denver’s defense for 43 points in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Saturday. Edwards received good news from the NBA on Sunday, as the technical he was assessed during the third quarter has been rescinded by the league, Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets. Edwards was given the tech for staring down Reggie Jackson ..read more