New Timberwolves F Anthony Tolliver stunned by popularity of LeBron spoof on YouTube

Tolliver’s LeBron spoof a hit on YouTube

MINNEAPOLIS — If Anthony Tolliver’s basketball career doesn’t pan out, maybe he can turn to Hollywood for Plan B.

He already has a hit video on his resume.

Tolliver’s spoof on LeBron James’ much-maligned ESPN special — titled “The Decision: Part Deux!!” — has been viewed more than 166,000 times since he posted it Friday. A relatively unknown free agent forward with 65 career games under his belt, Tolliver posted the one-minute video to announce that he chose the Minnesota Timberwolves over the Golden State Warriors.

He said it took about five minutes to put together. His girlfriend played the role of the reporter, asking Tolliver where he planned to play next season. Tolliver’s sister ran the camera and Tolliver was the director, producer, screenwriter and star.

“I like to have fun with a lot of things and decided to have a little fun with this,” Tolliver said Tuesday, one day after the team officially announced his two-year deal. “I didn’t expect it to do what it did. I’m a fun-loving guy. I like to have fun so that’s why I did it.”

Tolliver said he made the piece on a whim and insisted that he was poking fun at himself more than James, who announced he was “taking my talents to South Beach” in the one-hour cable special.

In the video, Tolliver announces that, “I will be taking my services to the north, the Minnesota Timberwolves” and holds up a ratty piece of notebook paper as a wolf howls in the background.

“If I was making fun of anybody, I was more making fun of myself,” said Tolliver, who bounced around the D-League for three years before averaging 12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds in 44 games for the Warriors last season. “Somebody like LeBron has a whole hour on ESPN so I thought maybe I could get a minute on ESPN The Ocho or something like that. Just having fun with it.”

Tolliver had a similar offer from the Warriors and said that he drew inquiries from Atlanta, Utah, Chicago, Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The 25-year-old ultimately chose to join a young, rebuilding Timberwolves team that won just 15 games last year. The versatile, 6-foot-9 forward will come off the bench in support of Michael Beasley and Kevin Love in what coach Kurt Rambis envisions being a wide-open, free-flowing offensive system.

“Everybody around here wants to be winners,” Tolliver said. “I just hope I can come in here and work hard, whether it’s a five-minute role or a 20-minute role. Whatever it is, I’m just going to get on the court and work hard and help wherever I can.”

Tolliver went undrafted out of Creighton in 2007 and he played overseas while getting short stints with the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers before getting called up from Idaho to the Warriors in midseason last year.

He definitely knows how to make a name for himself.

“A lot of people didn’t like ‘The Decision.’ They didn’t really like the whole hour special on ESPN and stuff like that,” he said. “They were like, ‘Good job making fun of LeBron.’ They have no idea. I wasn’t making fun of LeBron. I was just having fun with the situation.”