Minnesota Sports Forum

Not as just a basketball player but as a human. Some quotes from him.

KAT: "I've never been in a mentally good place since (his mother) went in the hospital. ... I wouldn't say (basketball) is therapy for me at all"


KAT says he has lost six other family/relations from COVID in addition to his mother. "I'm the one looking for answers to try to keep my family well informed and make all the moves necessary to keep them alive."

"It's gonna be hard to play," KAT says. He's "never been in a mentally good place" since his mom's death. Mentions D'Lo + Ricky as people who can help him during this difficult time, with calls/texts too. But Karl doesn't look at basketball as therapy at all. Admire his strength.

Not good. We've seen how his emotional state impacts his play (think back to the Houston playoff series he spent pouting on the court).

I'm not saying he's wrong to feel the way he does given what has happened to him; just noting the fact that outside influences impact his play, whether it's a bully teammate (Butler), the refs, or other stuff going on in his life. He doesn't compartmentalize well.

D-Lo doesn't sound worried about him. He said that he expects KAT to be a "killer" on the court whenever he returns -- that his entire mindset is different now for the better because of everything that he's gone through. If he's not worried about him, then I won't be either. But I totally understand where this post is coming from.

Camden wrote:D-Lo doesn't sound worried about him. He said that he expects KAT to be a "killer" on the court whenever he returns -- that his entire mindset is different now for the better because of everything that he's gone through. If he's not worried about him, then I won't be either. But I totally understand where this post is coming from.

I am just worried about him, he will probably will be fine when it comes to basketball but can't imagine what he is going through and feel bad for him

But remember guys, he missed a voluntary camp in September to try to cope somehow. Trade him.

We'll see once the season starts.

No other way to go with it. If nothing else, it things go incredibly sideways... we can use the "But KAT is totally focused now" to put an upbeat spin on the 2022 season.

Camden wrote:D-Lo doesn't sound worried about him. He said that he expects KAT to be a "killer" on the court whenever he returns -- that his entire mindset is different now for the better because of everything that he's gone through. If he's not worried about him, then I won't be either. But I totally understand where this post is coming from.

Interesting choice of word(s)... describing a guy who just had 6 people in his life die.

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Camden wrote:D-Lo doesn't sound worried about him. He said that he expects KAT to be a "killer" on the court whenever he returns -- that his entire mindset is different now for the better because of everything that he's gone through. If he's not worried about him, then I won't be either. But I totally understand where this post is coming from.

Interesting choice of word(s)... describing a guy who just had 6 people in his life die.

I thought so too, but those aren't my words. They were D-Lo's and he's said that line multiple times this off-season.

I do recognize that "killer" is often used when talking about star basketball players and their mindsets, though.

Camden wrote:

AbeVigodaLive wrote:

Camden wrote:D-Lo doesn't sound worried about him. He said that he expects KAT to be a "killer" on the court whenever he returns -- that his entire mindset is different now for the better because of everything that he's gone through. If he's not worried about him, then I won't be either. But I totally understand where this post is coming from.

Interesting choice of word(s)... describing a guy who just had 6 people in his life die.

I thought so too, but those aren't my words. They were D-Lo's and he's said that line multiple times this off-season.

I do recognize that "killer" is often used when talking about star basketball players and their mindsets, though.

I get that. As a guy who has to choose words carefully... I just cringed a little bit.

If you want to watch the video and get all Towns answers in full context although it's challenging because the audio is really low here it is below.

https://www.nba.com/timberwolves/video/teams/timberwolves/2020/12/04/3478845/1607121892700-201204-karl-avail-3478845

Towns tends to say stuff it seems like he wants them to hear. I never know if he is doing this because he doesn't know better or it's actually somewhat genuine. Towns in this video seems legitimately humbled sad and tying to get through his life. He seemed to me to be further along his journey of grief than the previous video he posted. He had some platitude type talk later in the video but I thought he was more real an vulnerable than he normally is IMHO. I'm actually less worried about him as a person watching this than I was The previous video. It felt like he was in denial and having to be the strong guy. He still said he needed to be there for his family but it didn't sound as much like he was trying to be a hero. That's my take.