Karl-Anthony Towns was entitled in the traditional “shower” before the shower. His teammates did not fail to water their leader as it should, after the announcement of his new selection to the All-Star Game, after the victory of this night against the Pistons. Well tempered, “KAT” let go that he was going to Cleveland to represent the whole team. Then, he initiated the collective battle cry: “family”.
For the interior of the Wolves, this is his third career star selection after 2018 and 2019. Since this period, his life has taken a dramatic turn due to the epidemic of Covid-19 which took away several members of his family, including his mother Jacqueline a year ago. The latter was the first person he had kissed when announcing his previous selection.
” Life is quite simple, life simply “, he replies when asked what had changed in the prospect of receiving this honor three years after his last star.
” It’s not the same atmosphere, it won’t be the same energy. It’s something cool at the moment (but) I have bigger things in mind, more urgent to manage. I have bigger aspirations too. It’s a great honor, I don’t want to minimize it “, he details, probably thinking of the emotion among newcomers like Darius Garland or Fred VanVleet.
“Nothing surprises me anymore in the fact of being selected or not”
Among the great aspirations to which the interior refers, there is this “mission playoffs”, an expression repeated several times during his press conference, in which he is embarked with his team. With the Grizzlies, the Wolves are undoubtedly the surprise team of this Western conference. After winning last night, the Minnesota franchise has a very good record of 27 wins for 25 losses and is in 7th place, right under the nose of the two Los Angeles franchises.
You have to go back to the 2017/18 season, under the Jimmy Butler era, to see Wolves in such good shape, with a positive record. They have not returned to the playoffs since.
With 24 points and 10 rebounds, “KAT” displays a statistical level comparable to his last selection, with however a little less rebounds captured (9.6 units, his lowest in career). In 2020, when he had posted his best career scoring average (26.5 points), his candidacy had not been accepted due to a collective balance sheet that was too weak.
“ It’s unfortunate that this year’s All-Star Game won’t feature the NBA’s top 24 players.”he had sent at the time. “I have become desensitized to the lack of respect shown to me in this league. I’ve been disrespected since I arrived.“
Today, he seems to be trying to distance himself from those honours. ” I’ve been through this process before, I felt like I was going to be into it, and I was snubbed. A constant snobbery. Nothing surprises me anymore in the fact of being selected or not “, he relativizes after pointing the finger at the one who is brought to accompany him during future editions: Anthony Edwards.
| Karl Anthony Towns | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2015-16 | MIN | 82 | 32 | 54.3 | 34.1 | 81.1 | 2.8 | 7.7 | 10.4 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 18.3 |
| 2016-17 | MIN | 82 | 37 | 54.2 | 36.7 | 83.2 | 3.6 | 8.7 | 12.3 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 25.1 |
| 2017-18 | MIN | 82 | 36 | 54.5 | 42.1 | 85.8 | 2.9 | 9.4 | 12.3 | 2.4 | 3.5 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 21.3 |
| 2018-19 | MIN | 77 | 33 | 51.8 | 40.0 | 83.6 | 3.4 | 9.0 | 12.4 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 24.4 |
| 2019-20 | MIN | 35 | 34 | 50.8 | 41.2 | 79.6 | 2.7 | 8.1 | 10.8 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 26.5 |
| 2020-21 | MIN | 50 | 34 | 48.6 | 38.7 | 85.9 | 2.7 | 7.9 | 10.6 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 24.8 |
| 2021-22 | MIN | 44 | 34 | 51.8 | 40.9 | 81.0 | 2.8 | 6.6 | 9.5 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 1.1 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 24.4 |
| Total | 452 | 34 | 52.6 | 39.6 | 83.2 | 3.0 | 8.4 | 11.4 | 3.1 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 1.4 | 23.1 | |
