How ‘Timberwolves Brasil’ Turned Basketball’s Favourite Gonzo Fan Account

Regardless of sometimes sharing fetish content material to rejoice the staff’s wins, Rodrigo Barbosa says he isn’t a furry

It’s an ideal season to be a Minnesota Timberwolves fan, with the staff currently leading the NBA‘s Western Convention. Stars Karl-Anthony Cities and Anthony Edwards have plain chemistry; veteran Mike Conley reveals actual management on the courtroom; heart Rudy Gobert is gunning for his fourth Defensive Participant of the Yr award. That is the sort of basketball you will get enthusiastic about.

However the Timberwolves have an extra, not-so-secret weapon you received’t see on the Goal Middle in Minneapolis. Actually, he’s by no means even been there. He’s a superfan who cheers the squad from greater than 5,000 miles away in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, posting outrageous content material on X/Twitter in response to their wins, repeatedly going viral whereas drawing baffled responses from across the internet — and even members of rival groups. That is Rodrigo Barbosa, the singular voice behind the gonzo “Timberwolves Brasil” — the man who will share a GIF of a wolf placing a lady’s whole head in its mouth, with the Portuguese caption “THE WOLF IS VERY HUNGRY,” when the T-Wolves beat the Indiana Pacers to go 19-5 general.

“I actually favored enjoying NBA Stay on PlayStation” within the early aughts, Barbosa tells Rolling Stone, by the use of explaining his introduction to the American league. “From then on, I began watching NBA video games. Plus, I additionally performed basketball in highschool. I grew to become a Timberwolves fan in 2004, the season the staff reached the Convention Finals and Kevin Garnett” — ceaselessly his greatest idol in basketball — “was the MVP.”

A 30-year-old with an promoting diploma who works in social media, Barbosa is one among many Brazilians who maintains a web based fan feed for an American cultural export. (The variety of Brazilian accounts dedicated to Taylor Swift updates alone is quite astonishing.) He’s additionally not distinctive in his long-distance relationship with an NBA franchise, nor his willingness to push the envelope in demonstrating his ardour: a Brazilian fan account for the Phoenix Suns memorably posted AI artwork of taking pictures guard Devin Booker kissing the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Dončić, whereas “Golden State Warriors Brasil” has joked about performing sexual favors for Steph Curry utilizing a suggestive video of a fish consuming what seems to be a large eel.

However, for the second, Barbosa has all of them beat. He simply hit the 100,000-follower mark and is the speak of NBA Twitter — partly because of the obvious incongruity of Brazil and Minnesota, although principally as a result of the Timberwolves are trying like championship contenders, and with every victory, observers know to anticipate one thing out-of-pocket from the chief of the pack. Although he launched the account in 2018, it actually began to take off originally of the 2023-2024 season, as Barbosa experimented with fetishistic movies evidently sourced from “furry” and “vore” subgenres. (Whereas not explicitly NSFW, you in all probability don’t wish to get caught watching these items the workplace, so contemplate yourselves warned.) Different animations, although much less sexual in nature, have been simply as complicated.

“This began two years in the past, after I had the thought to submit a ‘wolf video’ at any time when the Timberwolves received,” Barbosa says. “Earlier than, I solely used one video, of a Brazilian musical rhythm known as ‘funk,’ the place a wolf danced holding an umbrella. My followers favored it and I made a decision to ‘enhance the chances’ of wolf movies. Some movies I discovered on the web, others my followers ship to me. I determine which one to submit principally on victory day.”

The clips have occasioned shock and delight from U.S. followers. “What did I simply watch?” a redditor on r/timberwolves requested of a recent video. One commented, “It’s Timberwolves Brasil’s world and we’re simply dwelling in it,” with one other agreeing: “We simply is perhaps within the golden period for Wolves memes.” In a distinct thread on the subreddit, a Brazilian person defined what is perhaps getting misplaced in translation. “In Brazilian Portuguese the phrase we use for consuming may also imply fucking,” they wrote, “and Brazilians use this terminology quite a bit, for numerous functions, however on this case it principally implies that the wolves will fuck you up. To maintain issues enjoyable it developed into different movies of wolves consuming issues, and furry porn.”

Barbosa claims the fetish stuff isn’t something he’s into personally. “No, man,” he says. “I solely search for humorous movies which have wolves in them. Simply that.” And he’s additionally not up on the world of furries — a subculture based mostly on anthropomorphized animal characters, and whereas its not explicitly sexual, they’re typically inserted into pornographic situations. “To be utterly trustworthy, till final 12 months I didn’t even know what furry was,” he admits. “I all the time thought they have been ‘humorous wolf movies.’ I had no thought there was a group (or fetishes) about this. Timberwolves wins are my fetish. My solely fetish!”

After Timberwolves Brasil attracted discover from American sports activities commentators in late October with a disconcerting video of a large wolf greedily sucking on (after which devouring) a humanoid leopard determine, even NBA professionals started conserving tabs on the account. “They’ll’t hold getting away with this,” tweeted the Boston Celtics’ Oshae Brissett after Barbosa posted one other vore animation to mark their loss to the Timberwolves. Barbosa, who was apologetic and complimented Brissett on a “nice sport,” tells Rolling Stone that changing into this sort of sensation overseas was a “large shock” for him.

Today, the Timberwolves devoted look forward to Barbosa’s subsequent attractive tweet, whereas followers of different groups dread giving him the chance to humiliate them within the post-game ritual. But he’ll all the time be greater than a curator of wolf memes and erotica, a fan who criticizes the staff’s missteps and disseminates breaking information about its gamers — like on Monday, when he shared Anthony Edwards’ statement on leaked DMs that appeared to indicate him urging a lady who despatched him pictures of a optimistic being pregnant take a look at to “get a abortion lol,” and sending her $100,000 as encouragement to take action. (Edwards later stated, “I made feedback within the warmth of a second that aren’t me, and that aren’t aligned with what I consider and who I wish to be as a person.” Barbosa known as Edwards’ habits “regrettable.”) Regardless of the scandal, after all, Barbosa seemed ahead to the night time’s sport towards the Miami Warmth, “amid controversies” involving Edwards. He had already posted a taunting picture of the Warmth’s Jimmy Butler fleeing a pack of ravenous wolves.

“I hope individuals have enjoyable and likewise keep knowledgeable about what’s happening at Timberwolves,” Barbosa says. “I made the account for Timberwolves followers in Brazil, that was all the time my purpose. However I’m extraordinarily joyful that individuals are having enjoyable with the ‘wins movies.’”

Barbosa had the pleasure of seeing the Timberwolves play the Orlando Magic when he went on a visit to Disney World in 2018, however he’s but to make the pilgrimage to Minneapolis. “Sadly, I’ve by no means been in Minnesota, it’s my large dream,” he says. “My reference to the area is exactly due to the Timberwolves, regardless that it’s miles away.”

If he does get there sometime, he’s in for a heat reception. “I really feel embraced, particularly by Minnesota followers,” he says. Seems like he’s going to maintain these howlers coming.