A sprained left ankle kept Timberwolves' forward Antoine Walker out Monday night, but it didn't stop him from taking a few not-so-subtle shots at his former coach.

Walker said he had reached a breaking point with Heat Coach Pat Riley over conditioning demands during his final days with the team and welcomed the Oct. 24 trade, in which Walker, Michael Doleac, Wayne Simien and a first-round draft pick were dealt for Ricky Davis and Mark Blount.

Walker had repeatedly failed to meet the Heat's strict body-fat percentage mandates during his two seasons in Miami, which included the team's run to a 2006 NBA title.

"It was better for me to leave," Walker said before Monday's game. "Riles kept my name in the papers for something negative, and it was a back-and-forth thing over body-fat. I was getting tired of that."

"Regardless if I was here or not, it hasn't improved," he said. "The team ain't built around Antoine Walker. You've got to keep the truth somewhere in the middle. I was a piece of the puzzle. The truth's got to be told."