Jaden McDaniels did his best Michael Kidd-Gilchrist impression to start off Thursday’s must-win playoff game.
The Minnesota Timberwolves forward McDaniels had a hilariously awful start to Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. During the first quarter of the game at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, O.K., McDaniels missed all six of his shots from the floor (including going 0/3 from distance).
Even more embarrassing was that almost all of McDaniels’ attempts were wide open. Minnesota ran some nifty halfcourt sets to create multiple uncontested looks for McDaniels from the corner … but he was unable to cash in on even a single one.
Social media was predictably quite harsh on McDaniels. Take a look at some of the most savage memes that McDaniels received in the wake of his woeful shooting start.
Jaden McDaniels with a WIDE OPEN shot pic.twitter.com/GvXVrS5gsW
— Hater Report (@HaterReport_) May 29, 2025
Jaden Mcdaniels for 3! pic.twitter.com/M92nUlEYdK
— devocbfw (@devo4TG) May 29, 2025
Jaden McDaniels by next week pic.twitter.com/m4EKqBvcm6
— Oluwajomiloju (@JomiAdeniran) May 29, 2025
Jaden McDaniels wide open corner 3’s
— Zack (@ZackKuznia) May 29, 2025
pic.twitter.com/ULw8WMNvPK
Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch eventually pulled the plug on McDaniels at the 5:32 mark of the first quarter, subbing him out of the game for Nickeil Alexander-Walker. But the damage was done, especially since a lot of the misses by McDaniels created live-ball opportunities for the Thunder to get out and run. OKC took full advantage and jumped out to a 26-9 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The 24-year-old McDaniels is a dynamic wing defender and took some leaps offensively this season as well, averaging a career-high 12.2 points per game. But the Western Conference Finals against the Thunder has been an exercise in frustration for McDaniels, who also got a flagrant foul in Game 2 for shoving Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
