How Jimmy Butler’s trade request turned into beef between Andrew Wiggins and Stephen Jackson

If you went to sleep early Wednesday night, you woke up to a one-sided war of words between former NBA player Stephen Jackson and current Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins (and his brother, Nick). Jackson is someone nobody wants smoke with, but somehow, Wiggins ended up on the wrong side of his wrath.

Here’s how we got here in the first place.

Jimmy Butler met with coach and president Tom Thibodeau in Los Angeles, and the result of the meeting was the all-star voicing his desire to be traded elsewhere.

There were mixed feelings about Butler’s trade request, but one person who was happy to see this all-star want out is Andrew Wiggins’ brother, Nick Wiggins, who tweeted “Hallelujah” in response to the news.

Butler posted a video on his Instagram story in response to Nick Wiggins’ comment. It was a video of him working out, side-shuffling then sprinting towards the camera. He then says, “Hallelujah. Keep that same energy.”

Stephen Jackson is one of the guys nobody wants smoke with, and Jack decided to take some time to make an Instagram video re-enacting what Andrew Wiggins’ response should have been after his brother took a shot at Jimmy Butler:

Jackson as Andrew Wiggins: “Say big bro. I don’t think you should have sent that tweet out.”

Jackson as Nick Wiggins: “Why you say that?”

Jackson as Andrew Wiggins: “Jimmy Butler, man, he play with a lot of heart. He play hard. He play with a lot of heart. And I ain’t got no heart. You wanna get on social media and talk about Jimmy, we lose him, our team ain’t gonna have no heart. Now, if you wanna take me to the wizard and help me find the yellow brick road to get me a heart, then cool. You can talk about Jimmy all you want. ‘Cause you know I ain’t got no heart. So you gonna have to take that back or take me to the yellow brick road, take me to the wizard, man, cause shit I ain’t got no heart at all. That’s why Cleveland traded me.”

Jackson, now as himself: “No bullshit. You ain’t got no heart. And your brother, you don’t play basketball, why you worried about all that? But like he said, keep that same energy.”

Andrew Wiggins responds to Jackson with a post on his Instagram story that says “Old dudes stay hating like he was anything special bum ass ... I keep that same energy everywhere I go.” He then deleted that post and made a new one, putting the initials “SJ” at the beginning to clarify he was speaking about Jackson.

Jackson responded to Wiggins’ Instagram story post, acknowledging the young Timberwolves wing’s talent level.

“You got a lot of talent. I hope you have a good year. I hope somewhere you can find some heart and find some passion for the game and have a good year. I really wish you the best,” he says.

Jackson talks more before reminding Wiggins, “Make sure your energy is straight when you see me, bruh. I’m pretty sure you know who I am.”

He also posted his career stats on his Instagram page, with the caption “Kold ass bum with a chip. Crickets u shall hear.”

Let this serve as a reminder that Jackson a) was not a scrub and was a professional bucket-getter much of his career; b) is the walking definition of keep that same energy; and c) will tell you about yourself if you make him.

For Wiggins, the best way to shut Jackson up is to hoop out of his mind this season. If he doesn’t, Captain Jack will be waiting — and you better believe he’ll have this energy again.