Towns can do just fine here, despite what Sally thinks

It's been a busy past few days for indignant Minnesota sports fans.

On Tuesday, Vikings fans were upset that a Facebook post on ESPN's account mistakenly credited the Packers with winning the NFC North last season.

Some Gophers men's hockey fans also took exception to news that the Twins on Sunday will honor the NCAA champion North Dakota men's hockey team in a pregame ceremony at Target Field.

But those were just the warmup acts for John Salley on Thursday. The former NBA player filled in for Mike Golic on ESPN's "Mike and Mike" program and was asked about Karl-Anthony Towns and whether the unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year is the future of the NBA.

Said Salley: " I think he could be the future … I think he needs to get out of Minnesota. He and [Andrew] Wiggins need to get out of Minnesota."

Greenberg stopped him at that point with the bizarre question — phrased perhaps half-jokingly — of why the NBA even has a team in Minnesota. Salley took the bait, saying he agreed with Greenberg before launching into the oh-so-clever discussion of how cold it is here and how we have to walk through "tubes" in the winter. Salley added that Towns' presence in Minnesota won't make NBA fans go out and buy Wolves jerseys.

Greenberg, after that, was the voice of reason — pointing out (correctly) to Salley that in modern sports, the stars make the city. He cited the perfect example of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City.

"I think he needs to be in a place that literally gets more TV time, and the NBA is more focused on. Those are the teams on the coast," Salley said.

Yes, those were actual things said by a man who 1) won two NBA championships in Detroit and 2) wasn't half the player Towns figures to be in the future.

The only reason to pay attention to this nonsense is to point out that yes, in 2016, this type of thinking still persists. The oversimplified dismissal of how Towns (and Wiggins) could thrive here was summed up perfectly on Twitter by Timberwolves TV analyst Jim Petersen:

"Watching the idiocy of John Salley regarding his comments about Karl-Anthony Towns on @MikeandMike. I think he's stuck in 1987."

Petersen is spot on. The five best teams in the NBA this season — four of which are the only ones left standing in the playoffs — were Golden State, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Cleveland and Toronto.