50 Cent hops on Timberwolves bandwagon after Target Center visit
As reporters were waiting for Timberwolves coach Chris Finch for his pregame availability ahead of Sunday night’s game against the Houston Rockets, a familiar face entered the media room.
It was, however, a surprising guest appearance.
Curtis Jackson, better known as 50 Cent, whose Sire Spirits are the official spirit partner of the Timberwolves, briefly walked through before taking his courtside seat next to Timberwolves owner Alex Rodriguez.
50 Cent talks with Minnesota Timberwolves & Lynx co-owner Alex Rodriguez as his team plays the Houston Rockets in the fourth quarter at Target Center in Minneapolis on Feb. 4, 2024.
Bruce Kluckhohn / USA TODAY Sports
The in-arena videoboard at one point panned over to him during the game, with his 2003 hit “In Da Club” blasting over the Target Center sound system.
50's visit to Minneapolis and Target Center has seen him jump on the Timberwolves bandwagon. On Monday, he said on Twitter that he told Rodriguez during the game that he thinks the Timberwolves are going to win the championship this year.
Rodriguez told him that’s he’s an "oddly smart guy" and that he’s right on target.
It’s hard to argue with the results. The Timberwolves are currently 35-15 and tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the top spot in the Western Conference standings. Sunday’s win over the Rockets ensured Finch and his coaching staff would coach the Western Conference at the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 18 in Indianapolis.
50 Cent isn’t the first rapper to make predictions about the NBA. In 2016, the Thunder blew a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals to the Golden State Warriors. Many NBA fans speculated that was because of a curse that Lil B TheBasedGod placed on Kevin Durant. He lifted the curse the following year after Durant joined the Warriors — Lil B is a Bay Area guy — and Durant won his first championship in Golden State.
Meanwhile, after a bizarre halftime performance during a Milwaukee Bucks game in 2019, Ja Rule placed a curse on the Timberwolves for a 30-year championship drought after their social media team poked fun at the rapper on Twitter.
Oh no ... a decades-long title drought for a Minnesota sports team. How will fans possibly cope?!
That said, Ja Rule also predicted Karl-Anthony Towns would leave in free agency, so his curses perhaps aren’t quite as powerful as Lil B’s.
And now the Timberwolves have the 50 Cent blessing.
