The Timberwolves aren’t done with protesters delaying their games.
An animal rights activist chained herself to the basket stanchion Saturday during Game 1 of the Timberolves-Grizzlies playoff series in Memphis, Tenn.
The woman, wearing at T-shirt that read: “Glen Taylor Roasts Animals Alive” — appeared during a stoppage of play in the second quarter with yellow chains and attempted to secure herself to the stanchion after throwing flyers on the floor.
The protester, who appears to be another member of the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), was unchained by security before five people carried her out of the main area to the cheers of fans inside FedExForum.
The protest seemed to be related to the one carried out by a woman who tried to glue her hand to the court before the Timberwolves’ play-in game against the Clippers in Minneapolis on Tuesday night.
The animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere — which tweeted that the person who chained her self to the basket was Zoe Rosenburg — has accused Taylor, the Timberwolves’ majority owner, of the inhumane killing of 5.3 million chickens in a recent mass killing following an outbreak of bird flu in Taylor’s Iowa egg factory.
Taylor is in his last season as the team’s owner. The NBA approved a $1.5 billion deal that will net Alex Rodriguez and partner Marc Lore, the Walmart CEO, a 20 percent minority share of the Timberwolves with chances to buy more stakes in the team in 2022 and beyond to make them the majority owners.. The deal also includes an ownership stake in the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx.
Taylor did get some good news in the end as his seventh-seeded Timberwolves stunned the No. 2 seed Grizzlies, 130-117, to take a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference first-round best-of-seven series. Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 36 points in his first playoff game of his career.