In Minneapolis, Patrick Reusse reports the T'Wolves "had no idea" an ESPN crew led by Rachel Nichols was in town to talk to disgruntled F Jimmy Butler until they saw the net airing snippets of an interview with Butler as a "set up for NBA shows and SportsCenters that would follow." The fact Butler showed up for practice for the first time yesterday, "went bonkers on everybody, stormed out and was sitting with Nichols for a prearranged interview soon thereafter is not a conspiracy theory." That is "one plus one being two -- that’s a conspiracy, period" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 10/11).
BACK OUT FRONT: Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston is the "centerpiece of a promotional video tweeted out" by the team yesterday. Winston was "noticeably absent from the Bucs' marketing efforts before the start of the season, most visibly missing from the banners that adorn the four corners outside Raymond James Stadium." It appears that any concerns the organization might have had about Winston seem to have been "alleviated by his return last week from a three-game suspension" (TAMPABAY.com, 10/10).
IS IT OVER? In Dallas, Eddie Sefko addressed the question of whether there is a possibility the Mavericks could receive more punishment from the NBA following the allegations against recently fired team photographer Danny Bollinger and wrote, "The league has had its say. The rest of the punishment will come from within, if anything. The transgressions that keep trickling out -- the news of past transgressions, not any new transgressions -- is of a far less serious nature than what was included in the external investigation. But it's all part of removing bad apples and changing culture" (DALLASNEWS.com, 10/9).
