Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns isn't taking Stephen A. Smith's criticism lightly as he fired back at the veteran commentator for calling him “classless.”

To recall, Towns taunted Russell Westbrook on Wednesday after the Los Angeles Lakers guard airballed a shot. The Timberwolves big man's reaction was priceless, showing the ultimate disrespect.

However, Stephen A. Smith didn't like the reaction at all and basically argued that Karl-Anthony Towns has no right to do such thing against a player like Russell Westbrook. The ESPN broadcaster highlighted that the Timberwolves have not done anything significant in the past two decades, adding that they made the playoffs just once in the past two decades (17 years to be exact).

In response to Stephen A., Towns fired back and shared his confusion why Russ didn't get any criticism for his “rock-a-baby” taunt even if it's against better opponents.

“Now when we have a little fun with the game, we're being classless. Right, that's what he said ‘classless'?” Towns said.

“It's cool, though, I understand. It was cool when people was doing this in people's face (doing the rock-a-baby taunt). It was cool, right? Aight, things came back to bite.”

Towns certainly has a valid argument, though. If you're taunting and disrespecting opponents, you better be ready to be able to take the same thing or more. As for the media, they simply cannot favor one over the other just to create more drama. The Timberwolves star added that they have endured getting disrespectful antics from opponents, only to see the narrative change against them now that they are finding some success.

“It was all good when people was fitting narratives about me and talking about Pat [Beverley] and stuff. Oh, it was cool, right? It was cool! It was funny, right? ‘HA HA HA!' Fuck outta here, man. Stop it,” Towns furthered.

For what it's worth, Russell Westbrook himself has addressed the trash talking he received against the Timberwolves and pointed out that it doesn't bother him. He di share the same sentiment from Stephen A. Smith, though, as he noted the fact that Towns and company have not achieved anything significant in the NBA.

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“I honestly pay no mind to it,” Westbrook said. “
 They weren’t talking to me. They were talking to individual guys in particular, but the trash talking doesn’t bother me none. Nobody over there has done anything in this league that, you know, make me put my eyes up, ‘Oh they’re talking, let me respond.' No, so it’s fine. They won a game. Happy for them. Move on to the next one. That’s that.”

The Lakers and Timberwolves have already finished their four regular season games against each other, so the only chance that they meet again is in the play-in tournament if the match-ups permit it. If they do meet in the critical contest, it'll definitely be interesting to see how this brewing beef plays a role in their overall performance.

Certainly, if it comes to a do-or-die situation, Towns will be more motivated than ever to win and show everyone that they deserve more respect. As for Westbrook and the Lakers, it could be a chance to get their revenge on a team that beat them three times this 2021-22.

For now, fans will have to wait and see if that highly anticipated showdown will actually happen.