I'm worried about Kat

[Coolbreeze44]

With a 98.8% survival rate for this illness, how in the world did this poor guy lose that many people? It's statistically impossible. I've read that certain blood types are more susceptible to the more severe symptoms. Maybe that has something to do with it. My heart goes out to him.

[FNG]

I recognize this will not be a popular reply, and I hesitate to put my thoughts out there- but so much of Towns' reaction to his personal tragedy troubles me. I'm cautious about lecturing anyone on the correct way to grieve, but since this is a Timberwolves' message board and Towns is our most important player, I'm going to wade into admittedly controversial waters.

Towns; words at his press conference left me with a hollow feeling. I can't imagine the grief a person might feel in losing 6 family members, and I am quite sympathetic to what Towns has gone through. But here's my issue. I would feel much more favorably toward KAT if he were home grieving with his family over their horrible collective loss. Or perhaps joining his teammates when they got together in the early fall for voluntary workouts. But instead based on what we can all see on the internet, KAT seems to spent most of 2020 Katting around with a celebrity Instagram model. He has said his tragedy makes it difficult to focus on basketball, but he hasn't seemed to have much of a problem focusing on Jordyn Woods. My God, the man is getting paid more than $30 million per year for playing a game most of us would play for free. Is it unreasonable for a long-suffering Wolves fan to ask that he show maybe half the enthusiasm for his job as he does for his new girlfriend?

As sports fans, all of us have had the opportunity to observe how different star athletes respond to personal tragedy. More often than not the athlete says something like "I'm hurting, but I'm going to dedicate this season to (fill in the blank). That's what he/she would have wanted". But Towns is a different kind of guy. He is enormously talented, and I never question the effort he puts out on the court...at least on offense and on the boards. But there is an intangible there that makes me question whether he is the kind of guy who can ever use his athletic gifts to lead a team to a championship. Jimmy Butler is a flawed individual to be sure, but I suspect a lot of his desire to get out of Minnesota is that he saw what I see...a franchise built around a star who is missing that intangible element that true winners have.

I hope that Towns proves me wrong- that spending time with Woods rather than with his teammates is the only way he knows how to grieve, and once the pre-season begins, he will show us that he can fully utilize the gifts God has given him. As Robson tweeted yesterday after listening to Towns' press conference "I am genuinely sorry his mother died last April. I also sincerely believe it would be good for everyone if we talked basketball next time he meets the media." I agree.

I apologize in advance if this post offends you- I admit the anonymity of the internet allows us sometimes to say out loud what we might never say in person. But as a long-time Wolves fan, Towns' press conference has bugged me for the past two days. I wish I felt different about this and was only concerned about KAT's personal grief, but I need him to be as enthusiastic in trying to earn his $30 million as he is about hanging with Jordyn Woods.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

No worries FNG. I too am a bit cynical perhaps when it comes to KAT.

I forget who it was that said this term when talking about KAT (may have been Britt or one of the SKOR North guys), but the term they used was "martyr complex". That seemed very fitting based on what we've seen over the years PRIOR to his Mom's passing (the pouting in the Houston series, the Butler drama, the whining to the officials).

Even as someone who has been personally impacted by Covid, I'm a bit incredulous at him losing 7 family members to the illness. Cool actually overstates the death rate above. The actual Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) is more like .5 to .6% (still a lot higher than the seasonal flu for you conspiracy theorists out there!). That's because there are a bunch of people out there who have had it, but never got tested, therefore weren't officially called a Case. So for him to have that many family members that have died from it seems......odd.

[thedoper]

Im not worried about KAT. At least not from this interview or in a basketball sense. If anything what he said finally started to temper some of the "I need to be everything to everyone" rhetoric we've become so used to with KAT. Ultimately KAT always seemed like a good kid lacking maturity to me, now he's gained a whole bunch of vital life experience in a short amount of time. He's coming out the other end no longer sounding like a hallmark ad. He doesn't seem checked out to me, like when Jimmy was pulling his fiasco. He seems like his contemplative self, just reflecting on what is important in life, a bit matured from this hell he has been through the last year.

[Monster]

I recognize this will not be a popular reply, and I hesitate to put my thoughts out there- but so much of Towns' reaction to his personal tragedy troubles me. I'm cautious about lecturing anyone on the correct way to grieve, but since this is a Timberwolves' message board and Towns is our most important player, I'm going to wade into admittedly controversial waters.

Towns; words at his press conference left me with a hollow feeling. I can't imagine the grief a person might feel in losing 6 family members, and I am quite sympathetic to what Towns has gone through. But here's my issue. I would feel much more favorably toward KAT if he were home grieving with his family over their horrible collective loss. Or perhaps joining his teammates when they got together in the early fall for voluntary workouts. But instead based on what we can all see on the internet, KAT seems to spent most of 2020 Katting around with a celebrity Instagram model. He has said his tragedy makes it difficult to focus on basketball, but he hasn't seemed to have much of a problem focusing on Jordyn Woods. My God, the man is getting paid more than $30 million per year for playing a game most of us would play for free. Is it unreasonable for a long-suffering Wolves fan to ask that he show maybe half the enthusiasm for his job as he does for his new girlfriend?

As sports fans, all of us have had the opportunity to observe how different star athletes respond to personal tragedy. More often than not the athlete says something like "I'm hurting, but I'm going to dedicate this season to (fill in the blank). That's what he/she would have wanted". But Towns is a different kind of guy. He is enormously talented, and I never question the effort he puts out on the court...at least on offense and on the boards. But there is an intangible there that makes me question whether he is the kind of guy who can ever use his athletic gifts to lead a team to a championship. Jimmy Butler is a flawed individual to be sure, but I suspect a lot of his desire to get out of Minnesota is that he saw what I see...a franchise built around a star who is missing that intangible element that true winners have.

I hope that Towns proves me wrong- that spending time with Woods rather than with his teammates is the only way he knows how to grieve, and once the pre-season begins, he will show us that he can fully utilize the gifts God has given him. As Robson tweeted yesterday after listening to Towns' press conference "I am genuinely sorry his mother died last April. I also sincerely believe it would be good for everyone if we talked basketball next time he meets the media." I agree.

I apologize in advance if this post offends you- I admit the anonymity of the internet allows us sometimes to say out loud what we might never say in person. But as a long-time Wolves fan, Towns' press conference has bugged me for the past two days. I wish I felt different about this and was only concerned about KAT's personal grief, but I need him to be as enthusiastic in trying to earn his $30 million as he is about hanging with Jordyn Woods.

I first want to say that I'm glad you were willing to share your perspective. I've been hesitant to share what I've thought about Towns in this vein as well but I've done so. I'll share a couple thoughts that came to mind.

One thing I took away from Towns Media availability was Towns basically said basketball reminded him of his mom how she was there for every game. So basically in a lot of ways the game reminds him of his mom.

I get where you are coming from and I think you will agree guys aren't robots. He also lost other family members due to COVID. What if he was pretty close to at least 2 other family members as well? For most of my life I have tended to do grief differently than a lot of people. I tend to process over time but generally I get back to my daily routine. I also recognized at one point I had not really experienced a significant and unexpected loss. The past few years I've experienced some of that type of grief. I understand more how grief can effect someone. Honestly I still don't think I've fully processed some of my grief and maybe I never will although I've done some work to do so. Still I can't imagine what Towns is going through. He clearly had a very special relationship with his mom that I can't relate to. I love my mom but we aren't anywhere near as close as Towns was with his mom.

Being an NBA player take talent and hard work etc but the mental aspect is HUGE. Idk what Towns needed or will need to go forward especially experiencing his losses but mentally is the thing in question about him nothing else. Just pushing through things isn't always the way to go. Ask Kevin Love about that. Ryan Saunders had some pretty dark days after losing his dad.

I have no idea whether Towns and Woods relationship is legit or real or will last or whatever but let's say it is a really great relationship (probably not but). Wouldn't it be good if he really was like really excited about her and all that? It seems like if the relationship was good that's a pretty healthy normal thing to be really enthusiastic about.

I agree it would be good if Towns didn't have to address his mother's death anymore from media but once the season starts media from other markets will probably bring it up. That's gonna suck for Towns. And yes that's part of the package why guys get paid all this money but its still.

I actually hope Towns doesn't think he has to be the man this year in terms of leadership. I'm not saying he can sit around and not be a leader but I don't think he needs to be THE guy. He does need to lead by example putting in the hard work etc but if he isn't the inspirational leader this year that's probably ok. Some will question whether he had that ability anyway. It seems unlikely that he is gonna have that in him now for the next few months. This will be a good opportunity for others to step up either role. Rubio will be a guy that can be a part of that. It will be interesting to see how Russell does because I think he is going to Have a chance to be more of the guy this year.

Those are my thoughts I'm not suggesting Towns should get a free pass for the next X amount of time but I do think we can discuss this topic and what we perceive and share what we think without where he is at without be absolutely definitive about what he should be doing. I personally thought your post did that.

[Monster]

No worries FNG. I too am a bit cynical perhaps when it comes to KAT.

I forget who it was that said this term when talking about KAT (may have been Britt or one of the SKOR North guys), but the term they used was "martyr complex". That seemed very fitting based on what we've seen over the years PRIOR to his Mom's passing (the pouting in the Houston series, the Butler drama, the whining to the officials).

Even as someone who has been personally impacted by Covid, I'm a bit incredulous at him losing 7 family members to the illness. Cool actually overstates the death rate above. The actual Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) is more like .5 to .6% (still a lot higher than the seasonal flu for you conspiracy theorists out there!). That's because there are a bunch of people out there who have had it, but never got tested, therefore weren't officially called a Case. So for him to have that many family members that have died from it seems......odd.

Q I think Towns is both a bit of a Martyr and yet his rhetoric is very much about him being a hero. I think he is pretty clearly a people pleaser. That can be hard to break away from.

[60WinTim]

I also think we/many are placing too much emphasis on a single interview. This is KAT's first presser with the Wolves and the topic of his Mom and other losses could not be avoided. He handled it as best he could. It's behind him (the presser that is), and now he can move on as far as media relations go. I am sure he will have no problems building chemistry with teammates and future pressers will likely be much more upbeat. (well, until he starts requesting a trade! ;-) )

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I also think we/many are placing too much emphasis on a single interview. This is KAT's first presser with the Wolves and the topic of his Mom and other losses could not be avoided. He handled it as best he could. It's behind him (the presser that is), and now he can move on as far as media relations go. I am sure he will have no problems building chemistry with teammates and future pressers will likely be much more upbeat. (well, until he starts requesting a trade! ;-) )

My take isn't just from this presser, but his total body of work as a player/team leader/face of the franchise. Something always seems a bit disingenuous with him.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

No worries FNG. I too am a bit cynical perhaps when it comes to KAT.

I forget who it was that said this term when talking about KAT (may have been Britt or one of the SKOR North guys), but the term they used was "martyr complex". That seemed very fitting based on what we've seen over the years PRIOR to his Mom's passing (the pouting in the Houston series, the Butler drama, the whining to the officials).

Even as someone who has been personally impacted by Covid, I'm a bit incredulous at him losing 7 family members to the illness. Cool actually overstates the death rate above. The actual Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) is more like .5 to .6% (still a lot higher than the seasonal flu for you conspiracy theorists out there!). That's because there are a bunch of people out there who have had it, but never got tested, therefore weren't officially called a Case. So for him to have that many family members that have died from it seems......odd.

Q I think Towns is both a bit of a Martyr and yet his rhetoric is very much about him being a hero. I think he is pretty clearly a people pleaser. That can be hard to break away from.

Martyr Complex - A martyr complex, or victim complex, is a form of passive-aggressive behavior and is an unhealthy way of trying to gain attention, approval, and ultimately their way. People with this mentality often see themselves as the victim of life's unfair circumstances and want to make sure that others recognize their "strength" as they power through while making things better for others, even as their own life is so unfair and unhappy.

Bolded part is the hero mentality IMO.....it's part of being a martyr.

[60WinTim]

I also think we/many are placing too much emphasis on a single interview. This is KAT's first presser with the Wolves and the topic of his Mom and other losses could not be avoided. He handled it as best he could. It's behind him (the presser that is), and now he can move on as far as media relations go. I am sure he will have no problems building chemistry with teammates and future pressers will likely be much more upbeat. (well, until he starts requesting a trade! ;-) )

My take isn't just from this presser, but his total body of work as a player/team leader/face of the franchise. Something always seems a bit disingenuous with him.

I won't argue with you on that account. I was mostly referring to the notion that KAT may not be as committed to basketball as he has been in the past.