The Legacy of Karl Anthony Towns in Minnesota...

[AbeVigodaLive]

Karl Anthony Towns was not always a fun player to root for. Maybe a bit corny. An uneven playoff performer. A guy who seemed full of empty platitudes. And then there were the truly maddening things on the court... like how he led the league in offensive fouls EVERY season... and often in hilarious fashion. A lot of it is on him... part of it was from a ridiculously bad whistle. I'll always remember the play from last season vs. the Knicks where a Knicks player crashes into the player guarding Towns... and yet they still called the foul on Towns. Now granted, Towns WAS going to charge into the guy (LOL) but he didn't even get the chance to do it.

Towns was also a true NBA talent. Arguably, the best three-point shooting big. Ever. But he was more than that. He could score in the post. Hell, he could score from anywhere. He was a willing and capable passer. And he put in effort on defense.

But none of that will be what was most memorable about Towns in Minnesota. Consider...
... another modern NBA player who spent nearly a decade with one team who NEVER complained publicly despite...

- Joins 66 loss team (worst franchise in NBA history... and this is objectively true).
- Coach, GM and part owner dies unexpectedly within a couple of months.
- The Timberwolves had FIVE head coaches and SEVEN GMs during Towns' first 7 years with the team.
- The Wolves bring in Tom Thibodeau. Towns takes a backseat... willingly... the team breaks a 17 year playoff drought. The next offseason... Jimmy Butler goes ballistic. He rips everyone in the organization to force his way out, primarily Towns. Thibodeau SIDES WITH Butler. Towns never says anything negative about Butler, Thibs or the organization.
- The Wolves bring in Gobert... his rival and a guy whose inclusion on the All NBA team over Towns cost Towns about $30M the previous season. It's a wonky fit. BUT... it's Towns who accommodates Gobert more than anyone else on the team. He changes positions. He talks glowingly about Gobert. And he's the one guy who passes to Gobert more than anyone else. Towns never complains publicly.
- While this is happening, Edwards ascends to stardom. He takes over the team, on the court, in the stat sheet, publicly... and with media pundits. He's the darling of the NBA. Meanwhile, nearly every time Edwards is praised by the talking heads... Towns gets ripped. Towns never complains.
- The Wolves get good. Finally. Towns remains out of position. But he again leads the team in passing to Gobert. Then, he gets injured. Then, Towns returns from injury before he's ready, risking his balky knee, for the playoff run. Edwards gets most of the credit... until they lose to Dallas when Towns gets most of the blame. Towns never complains publicly.
- Towns gets traded for money reasons.

I won't miss Towns playing basketball too much. (I'm a fan of guards anyway.) I won't miss the "corniness." I won't miss the predictability of his stupid basketball decisions. I won't miss the uneven playoff performances.

But damn... he should receive more credit than what he's been given for his role in making Timberwolves basketball credible again... by largely not being an asshole when so so so many NBA stars have acted out for so so so much less.

I hope he does well in New York. Because he seems (at least in relation to m/billionaire athletes) like a pretty decent dude.

[guest81]

I mean they had to bring in gobert because kat could not be your defensive big. The team also ultimately sided with kat over butler and thibs. They brought in a player friendly coach and built the whole offense around kat.

Ant became the franchise player because he was the better player.

Finally a lot of the losing is because kat never ended up being that franchise player that he was supposed to be like jokic or emblid. Despite that the wolves still payed him like he was.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I mean they had to bring in gobert because kat could not be your defensive big. The team also ultimately sided with kat over butler and thibs. They brought in a player friendly coach and built the whole offense around kat.

Ant became the franchise player because he was the better player.

Finally a lot of the losing is because kat never ended up being that franchise player that he was supposed to be like jokic or emblid. Despite that the wolves still payed him like he was.

Your post also sort of sums up Towns' career. It makes blanket statements about the guy while missing most of the context around it.

I wouldn't say they sided with Towns over Butler. Remember, Butler requested a trade weeks prior. The team simply relented AFTER Butler torpedoed the season for the team. They brought in Ryan Saunders as a nepotism hire... and a misdirect to appease a frustrated fanbase. The team went back to the lottery... largely by design.

They had little option than to "re-re-rebuild" around Towns.

Nobody on this site would ever suggest Towns was a super great player. Even his most ardent critics note his flaws. But how big of a knock are we putting on the guy for becoming an All Star but not a perennial MVP candidate? The guy was good... not great. He was paid to be great. Now he's gone. Meh.

Meanwhile, the legions of anti-Towns people will continue to chime in with cursory takes without the proper context or understanding of the player, franchise, or situations behind them.



[Note: Maybe you should just reread my original post... because you seem to be trying to argue things that don't even exist in my original post.]

[Wolvesfan21]

I mean they had to bring in gobert because kat could not be your defensive big. The team also ultimately sided with kat over butler and thibs. They brought in a player friendly coach and built the whole offense around kat.

Ant became the franchise player because he was the better player.

Finally a lot of the losing is because kat never ended up being that franchise player that he was supposed to be like jokic or emblid. Despite that the wolves still payed him like he was.

Your post also sort of sums up Towns' career. It makes blanket statements about the guy while missing most of the context around it.

I wouldn't say they sided with Towns over Butler. Remember, Butler requested a trade weeks prior. The team simply relented AFTER Butler torpedoed the season for the team. They brought in Ryan Saunders as a nepotism hire... and a misdirect to appease a frustrated fanbase. The team went back to the lottery... largely by design.

They had little option than to "re-re-rebuild" around Towns.

Nobody on this site would ever suggest Towns was a super great player. Even his most ardent critics note his flaws. But how big of a knock are we putting on the guy for becoming an All Star but not a perennial MVP candidate? The guy was good... not great. He was paid to be great. Now he's gone. Meh.

Meanwhile, the legions of anti-Towns people will continue to chime in with cursory takes without the proper context or understanding of the player, franchise, or situations behind them.



[Note: Maybe you should just reread my original post... because you seem to be trying to argue things that don't even exist in my original post.]

The entire Butler fiasco was the team/FO/Thibs basically taking KATs side over Butlers. Butler wanted an extension, to get paid at the time. In that practice/scrimmage where Butler blew up with the backups and then walked out he took on KAT defensively and attacked him relentlessly on offense. Something about him yelling I'm the guy, pay me, pay me! (something to that effect I can't recall exactly) I heard it on a podcast from Teague.

KAT never lived up to his potential though, he wasn't making the progress he needed to at that time to become a superstar player. He had more physical NBA talent (still does really) then Jokic. He was content enough on being a borderline sometimes All Star on a losing team. He didn't make progress becoming a better defender (until this year). Never fixed his foul issues. (why we brought in Rudy). Never became a good enough passer.

To sum it up I see the KAT era as what could have been.

[kekgeek]

Fantastic write up Abe. You are the best story teller on this board.

Kat never lived up to the hype but man he was damn good. He played his ass off and never wanted out at least publicly.

Kat should get his jersey retired and is the 3rd best wolf in history. Will miss the dude. My buddy got to know Kat decently due to being high school friends with Yung Gravy. And Kat was always super nice to him.

Kat is a good dude

[guest81]

I mean they had to bring in gobert because kat could not be your defensive big. The team also ultimately sided with kat over butler and thibs. They brought in a player friendly coach and built the whole offense around kat.

Ant became the franchise player because he was the better player.

Finally a lot of the losing is because kat never ended up being that franchise player that he was supposed to be like jokic or emblid. Despite that the wolves still payed him like he was.

Your post also sort of sums up Towns' career. It makes blanket statements about the guy while missing most of the context around it.

I wouldn't say they sided with Towns over Butler. Remember, Butler requested a trade weeks prior. The team simply relented AFTER Butler torpedoed the season for the team. They brought in Ryan Saunders as a nepotism hire... and a misdirect to appease a frustrated fanbase. The team went back to the lottery... largely by design.

They had little option than to "re-re-rebuild" around Towns.

Nobody on this site would ever suggest Towns was a super great player. Even his most ardent critics note his flaws. But how big of a knock are we putting on the guy for becoming an All Star but not a perennial MVP candidate? The guy was good... not great. He was paid to be great. Now he's gone. Meh.

Meanwhile, the legions of anti-Towns people will continue to chime in with cursory takes without the proper context or understanding of the player, franchise, or situations behind them.



[Note: Maybe you should just reread my original post... because you seem to be trying to argue things that don't even exist in my original post.]

I think i argue with the premise that kat deserves sympathy because of the franchise and never complaining. I think people want to make parallels to KG. KG was a clear franchise player that the franchise could never build around. With KAT there really was no building around him because he was never a franchise player. That's not to say he isn't a good person and didn't go through a lot of personal stuff, but i don't think he gets credit or sympathy for not complaining because he was simply never good enough

[Q-is-here]

Thanks for the write-up Abe! Yeah, he was the constant in the franchise's transformation from laughingstock to contender. There is a lot to nit-pick with how he played, but it certainly seems like he was a very good dude. Hard to say anything negative about how he conducted himself off the court.