On Feb. 20, the Twitter account Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) released a tweet captioned LUKA IS THE CHOSEN #NBA75. Underneath is a video of Michael Jordan side-hugging Luka Doncic and dapping up the Dallas Mavericks superstar.
It’s pretty straightforward until you get to the end of it. About eight seconds in, Karl-Anthony Towns appears next to Doncic and Jordan. When KAT goes to shake MJ’s hand, Jordan looks at him suspiciously and points at him before releasing a drawn-out, “Yeah”
Towns responds in kind, and the video cuts out before we hear what they said to each other. One Twitter user (@P_MATIC) responded by questioning whether Jordan knew who Towns was.
Well, Towns and his buddy Chucky Anthony took to KAT’s Twitch stream a couple of days later to clear the air.
“A’ight, let’s start with this,” Towns began.
“Let ‘em know, man,” encouraged Anthony.
“Before this happened [Jordan showed up late to RocketMortgage Arena in Cleveland, where the All-Star Game was held this year],” explained Towns. “He came late because he was at the NASCAR thing.”
Towns is referring to the Daytona 500 in Florida, where there was a massive crash. Debris from the collision landed near the area where Jordan had parked his RV.
“Right,” confirmed Anthony. “People didn’t think he was gonna come, I don’t think.”
“No,” clarified Towns, “they didn’t think he was coming.”
So, he walked in. He was trying to tell me something. He knew what he wanted to say, and he was trying to talk to me about the Charlotte game [Minnesota won 126-120 on Feb. 15]. About the Hornets game, when I had 39 and I came through. I came through with the clutch shots.
He was trying to tell me that, and I think they were trying to rush him, because, with the 75 [year anniversary], they were trying to get the photos done and everything, and get everything right. It was something that he wanted to say, and from the videos I’ve seen of MJ already before this happened, everything was super competitive with him.
MJ looks at me, and he goes, ‘Um, I remember what you did to my team. I seen what you did to my team. Fuck you!’
It’s clear from the Twitch stream that Jordan meant it in jest. Towns and Anthony are howling.
“I say, yeaaah! I like this energy,” continued KAT, referring directly to the Eurohoops video. “Yeah, I like this energy. That’s why you see me in the video go, yeaaaah! Hehe. And the funniest part, MJ’s so iconic and so competitive, he looks back at me and goes, yeaaaah!
“Yo, I was crying.”
He then plays the back end of the Eurohoops video.
“He’s like yeaaaah, yeaaaah,” Towns says, laughing. “So competitive, I love it.”
KAT’s story checks out. Jordan was at the Daytona 500 before arriving in Cleveland for the All-Star Game. Towns had just dropped 39 on the Charlotte Hornets, the team Jordan owns. And, well, Jordan is super competitive.
Want to examine the tape for yourself? Check out the video below.
