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The upcoming playoff matchup between the Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves could be one of the most exciting first-round series in recent memory. Both teams are loaded with young talent, deploying aggressive styles that prioritize their relentless activity and explosive athleticism. Memphis and Minnesota are arguably the league's most formidable trash talkers, too.
Don't be surprised, basically, if tensions flare during a series that promises to be hotly contested from the jump. Just because the Grizzlies and Timberwolves are budding on-court rivals, though, doesn't mean they're ignoring the kinship of being perpetually overlooked for teams playing in more glamorous cities.
Karl-Anthony Towns addressed that dynamic directly on Thursday, calling out the media for prioritizing big-market teams and predicting a ratings bonanza for Minnesota's highly anticipated battle with Memphis.
Towns says Wolves-Grizz could be a series between the NBA's next two "It" teams.
"At the same time, a slap in the face to all the media that say small-market teams couldn’t get it done. We’ll go out there and make the ratings and we’ll make the show happened."
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) April 14, 2022
Towns is hardly the only one involved in this series who's noticed his team failing to garner the national attention it deserves.
Anthony Edwards and Patrick Beverley were gleefully boasting about Saturday's nationally-televised Game 1 after the Timberwolves dispatched of the LA Clippers in the first leg of the play-in tournament earlier this week. Ja Morant and the Grizzlies have gone out of their way since the 2021-22 season tipped off back in October to highlight their lack of mainstream coverage, too.
Small-market teams are at an inherent disadvantage in the NBA. The success of Memphis and Minnesota won't change that. If their first-round series lives up to the hype, though, it'll be only a matter of time until Towns, Morant and their respective teams become mainstays on national TV.
