Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals will be played at Target Center in Minneapolis, which means the “Inside the NBA” crew, including Charles Barkley, Shaq, Kenny Smith and (host) Ernie Johnson will be making their way north to the Land of 10,000 Lakes this week, a location on the U.S. map that those guys don’t frequently travel.

Anthony Edwards invites TNT crew to Minnesota

Well, if they were hoping for an invitation, Anthony Edwards gave them one shortly after he donned the headset Sunday night. When Barkley told Ant that it’s been a long time since he has visited Minnesota, just like any good Minnesotan, made his invitation very clear, “bring ya ass”.

Chuck: "I have not been to Minnesota in probably 20 years."

Ant: "Bring ya ass!" 😂 pic.twitter.com/GRJ7iLvinC

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 20, 2024

The “bring ya ass” comment was a thing the moment it left Anthony Edwards’ lips. It started with tweets and memes, reaction articles, etc. Soon after, T-shirts and merchandise has followed. But local comedian Jon Savitt took a different angle. He purchased “bringyaass.com“.

Helping outsiders navigate uncharted Minnesota Timberwolves territory

But instead of using the newly minted URL to his own financial advantage, he redirecting it to… the Explore Minnesota website. Why? To be helpful to outsiders, of course.

This way, Barkley, Kenny and others who are looking to visit can more easily find the things they are looking for while exploring the uncharted waters of the Northstar State. And hey, those waters aren’t even frozen right now so there is a lot to do.

Comedian/Wolves fan @savittj purchased https://t.co/ErxmNWSJ8r and then redirected it to Explore Minnesota's website

— Nick Halter (@nickhaltermpls) May 20, 2024

Inside the NBA has become among the biggest staples surrounding the game, and the TNT crew including Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal, and Ernie Johnson remains must-see viewing as you never know what hilarious comment will come out next.

Related: Anthony Edwards Gives Chris Finch His Flowers

Immediately after securing a spot in the Western Conference Finals, Anthony Edwards was rocking the headset and being asked questions about what is to come. A “best of” section highlights food and drink options, which should be more than sufficient to direct Barkley should he truly be looking for recommendations.

Savitt utilized some quick thinking and wit and captured the iconic moment perfectly. For Edwards, he just adds yet another banger quote to his arsenal, one that’s already packed full for a kid who is just 22-years-old.

Minnesota is ready for you, basketball fans! 🏀 Let's go, @Timberwolves! 🐺 pic.twitter.com/AXz4RR1tdW

— Explore Minnesota (@exploreminn) May 20, 2024

Dallas Mavericks coming to town too

Dallas Mavericks fans will also embark upon Minneapolis in the days ahead as the Minnesota Timberwolves have home court advantage for the Western Conference Finals. As the three seed, Chris Finch’s club will host the first two tilts against a Dallas team that they owned a 3-1 record against during the regular season.

Related: Watch Nikola Jokic Rave About How Good the Minnesota Timberwolves Are

Edwards will be tasked with shutting down Kyrie Irving on the perimeter, and some combination of Karl Anthony Towns and Jaden McDaniels should be expected to focus on playmaker Luka Doncic. Minnesota is looking to head to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, and this team appears to be on some sort of a collision course to make it happen.

Anson Carter is an NHL studio analyst for TNT and a former ten-year (’96-’06) veteran in the league. He moved around a lot throughout his National Hockey League tenure but had plenty of success, scoring 202 career goals and 421 points.

Carter vs Russo

For whatever reason, Carter isn’t a fan of the Minnesota Wild or their long-time beat writer. I’ll catch you up on where this feud started momentarily. But on Thursday while on national TV, Anson Carter went as far as blatantly suggesting that Michael Russo is racist.

Anson Carter goes in on @RussoHockey, this could go south fast pic.twitter.com/cU9ZnjnwsU

— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) February 10, 2022

“Apparently, I don’t watch games. So, stay on code, buddy. Lazy. Fans are saying that I have an ego, too? Ok, doesn’t he have an ego too for saying that he’s an authority on these things, talk? Honestly…

“It’s the wrong month. Stay on code. Please, stay on code because we know exactly what’s happening.”

Anson Carter – TNT Broadcast

If you listen until the very end of the video, as the host is trying to send the broadcast to commercial as quickly as possible, you can hear Carter say in the background, “…like he’s (Russo) the authority. Sounds all white to me.”

How Did We Get Here?

Where do these accusations of racism stem from? You’d think Russo must have done something pretty egregious if Carter is reacting this way, right? Wrong. He and Michael have been feuding for about a week now. But their (mostly) social media spat wasn’t based in race until last night’s “NHL on TNT” aired.

It started with Anson Carter calling Minnesota Wild fans (and reporters) out on Twitter. Russo responded to his tweet with a bunch of facts that made Carter look clueless on his knowledge of the Wild roster and how they’ve been playing. Apparently, that makes Russo a racist in the eyes of Anson Carter.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan