A group of animal welfare activists – members of the organization Direct Action Everywhere who have conducted a series of protests at Timberwolves games in recent weeks – want Glen Taylor to step down from his role as the Wolves’ team owner, writes Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.
As Arnovitz details, Taylor is the owner of Rembrandt Farms, a large-scale factory farm that recently killed more than five million birds using a method known as “ventilation shutdown plus” that activists view as inhumane. That method was employed in an effort to combat an outbreak of bird influenza.
Taylor has agreed to eventually hand over the reins of the Timberwolves to incoming owners Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore. However, Arnovitz says the activists want to expedite the succession process, which currently doesn’t call for Rodriguez and Lore to assume full control until at least a year from now.
According to Arnovitz, Direct Action Everywhere is also demanding that Taylor contribute $11.3M to public health and animal welfare organizations. That amount is equivalent to the $11.3M that Rembrandt Farms received in federal funds in 2015 to combat another influenza outbreak, per ESPN.
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Warriors star Stephen Curry will no longer face a minutes restriction in Game 5 vs. Denver on Wednesday, head coach Steve Kerr said today (Twitter link via Kendra Andrews of ESPN). There has been speculation that Curry will reenter the starting lineup on Wednesday, but Kerr didn’t confirm or deny that.
- On the verge of winning a playoff series for the first time in his career, Mavericks guard Luka Doncic praised his teammates, including Dorian Finney-Smith and Reggie Bullock, who rushed to confront Jazz center Hassan Whiteside following a hard foul on Doncic on Monday. “They had my back,” Doncic said, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “Both of them, anybody, we had each other’s back. That’s what great teams do. I would go with these guys to war. This is a special team.”
- In his offseason preview for the Kings, ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) explores the resources Sacramento has available to upgrade its roster, concluding that the draft and trade market are the team’s best bets. In Harrison Barnes, Justin Holiday, Maurice Harkless, and Alex Len, the Kings have about $35M in expiring contracts, Marks observes.
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