JIMMY Butler returned to Minnesota Timberwolves practice for the first time since requesting a trade, and saying it got heated might be the understatement of the century.

The star wing made his presence felt, yelling at everyone from the players, to coaches, and even the general manager, all with the intent to show one thing: the team needs him.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Butler was dominant throughout the practice, playing with the Timberwolves’ bench unit in an attempt to prove his worth to the other starters on the team.

“You f***ing need me, Scott. You can’t win without me,” Butler reportedly shouted to general manager Scott Layden.

The blow-up comes a month after Butler requested a trade from the franchise, a decision that was partly because of issues with the team’s young stars, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Butler reportedly targeted both players in this heated practice session.

“I heard that he took the third stringers, and he beat the starters,” ESPN’s Amin Elhassan added.

Butler also targeted Tom Thibodeau with his sentiment, with his long time head coach leading the way in trying to convince the 29-year-old to rescind his trade request and stay in Minnesota.

Following the incident, Butler sat down with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, and confirmed what happened.

“A lot of it is true,” Butler said.

“I haven’t played basketball in so long. I’m so passionate. I don’t do it for any reason but to compete. All my emotion came out in one time. Was it the right way? No! But I can’t control that when I’m out there competing. That’s raw me, me at my finest, me at my purest. Inside the lines.”

“He was ... around. That’s really all I gotta say about that,” Timberwolves forward Anthony Tolliver said, when asked about practice.

Jimmy Butler had requested a trade.

A follow-up report from Yahoo! Sports shed even more light on the practice.

“I ain’t never seen some (expletive) like that. Jimbo showed out,” A Timberwolves player told Yahoo Sports.

According to that report, by Chris Haynes, Butler ‘wasn’t in the best of shape’, but held his own enough to warrant taunts to the likes of Towns and Wiggins.

Butler yelled, “They ain’t [expletive]!” and “They soft!” in reference to Towns and Wiggins and, in one instance, defended the team’s starting centre in the post, screaming, “He can’t do (expletive) against me!”

Towns kicked the ball out, according to the report.

Towns reportedly huddled the team after Butler walked out of the gym, but the damage was done, accoring to Yahoo!: “Some players were motivated by Butler’s theatrics, but others were distraught and speechless, and most notably Towns, league sources said.”

While Butler had been excused from practices and scrimmages while the Timberwolves looked for a trade for him, the regular season is just around the corner, so he decided to join.

“Am I being tough on him? Yeah, that’s who am I,” Butler said of Karl-Anthony Towns.

“I’m not the most talented player on the team. Who is the most talented player on our team -- KAT. Who is the most god-gifted player on our team -- Wiggs. Who plays the hardest? Me!

“I play hard. I put my body (on the line) every day in practice, every day in games. That’s my passion. Everybody leads in different ways. That’s how I show I’m here for you.”

ESPN reported that the Timberwolves and Miami Heat were close to finalising a deal with Butler as the central figure, but those talks broke down.

Butler averaged 22.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game for the Timberwolves over the 2017-18 season, and is a four-time NBA All-Star.