Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t wait for the team bus that took the New York Knicks from their hotel in downtown Minneapolis to Target Center for Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
He jumped in a car with his father to drive to his former home early to make sure he had enough time to soak in what he knew would be an emotional night. The four-time All-Star center and former face of the Timberwolves franchise made his return to Minnesota on Thursday night for the first time since the stunning trade that sent him to New York just before training camp.
“I know it’s gonna be a lot, but just appreciate every second, every moment, and appreciate being back here,” Towns said Thursday morning after shootaround.
Towns spent the first nine years of his career in Minnesota after being drafted No. 1 in 2015 out of Kentucky. In that time, he became the organization’s, and the state’s, biggest advocate, a 7-foot tall billboard for life and basketball in these parts.
Even after being traded to the Big Apple, much closer to where he grew up in New Jersey, and playing for the Knicks team his father grew up cheering for, Towns said Minnesota and the Timberwolves will always have a special place in his heart.
“I’m an avid Timberwolves fan, so I’ll kind of be watching a lot of the games when I get a chance,” Towns said. “They’re still my brothers, still my guys, just because the trade happened doesn’t mean I lost love for them.”
On Thursday, that feeling was clearly mutual.
Towns received a standing ovation from the crowd upon being introduced in the starting lineup. The Wolves played a tribute video highlighting his career in Minnesota, from the night he was drafted through his iconic putback dunk to seal a win over Denver in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals.
“Usually, I’m the one in the Timberwolves jersey, looking at the tribute videos,” Towns said. “But it’s kind of weird being on the other side now.”
The Wolves played a second tribute video in the first quarter dedicated to his work in the Twin Cities community. Towns won the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Award last season for his tireless volunteering efforts, and he oversaw a winter coat drive that delivered thousands of coats to youth in need over the years.
The smile did not leave Towns’ face often once the game began. He was constantly talking with his old teammates, giggling when he got Naz Reid to reach and pick up his second foul and tapping Rudy Gobert on the behind when he checked back into the game late in the first quarter. Towns had three points, six rebounds and three assists in his first 11-minute shift. But he also turned the ball over four times. Several of them came on passes just a little too fancy for his own good, a familiar sight for Timberwolves fans.
KAT started to assert himself in the second quarter, getting to the foul line, hitting 3s and taking over on the glass. He hit a deep 3 in Gobert’s face with four minutes to go, then added a couple of free throws to put the Knicks up 29 points.
He had a double-double four minutes into the second quarter and the Wolves offense fell off a cliff, a glaring dichotomy with their former All-NBA center laying waste to them on the other end. Towns went on to finish with a game-high 32 points, 20 rebounds and six assists as the Knicks rolled to a 133-107 win.
Towns was traded to New York in September, just two days before media day, for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a future first-rounder from Detroit. The timing of the move shocked everyone involved, and both teams are still working on acclimating.
The Timberwolves have had an up-and-down start while integrating Randle into KAT’s starting power forward spot and DiVincenzo off the bench. They entered Thursday at 14-11 and seventh in the Western Conference, a nerve-racking opening to the season after they made the Western Conference finals last year. But they have won six of their last seven games behind lockdown defense, which has helped mitigate a clunky offense.
“It’s not normal to make a trade the day before the season,” DiVincenzo said. “So both sides, it takes time to adjust and great things take time. More so on our side, I believe that, but also on their side. KAT’s playing really well, but it’s going to take time to mesh and other guys adjust to what he does.”
The Knicks have been working to find some answers to their defense, where they rank 16th in the league. But Towns has been terrific from an offensive standpoint, averaging 24.8 points, a league-leading 13.9 rebounds and shooting 52.6 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point land. The move back to center after playing two seasons at power forward alongside Rudy Gobert has been an offensive boon for both him and the Knicks.
“We used to call it the cheat code,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said of playing Towns at center. “It’s just a cheat code for great offense. His ability to score at all levels and distort the floor and all that kind of stuff, it’s definitely, definitely, definitely a driver of great offense.”
The reception in his return to Minnesota had Towns in a reflective mood all day. This was a place that helped raise him, supported him when he lost his mother, Jacqueline, to COVID-19 in 2020, and celebrated when his team finally broke through in the playoffs.
And after seeing how difficult life can be without him, it’s possible that Wolves fans appreciate Towns now more than ever.
“I’ve been through a lot, especially in a T-Wolves jersey,” Towns said. “I’ve learned to appreciate moments, especially these moments that don’t come around ever or often. I just want to be in a place of life where I don’t look at life as glass half empty. I look at it as half full.
“I just appreciate this opportunity to be back in a place I’ve called home and have so many great memories at and to be able to play against so many guys I’ve actually played with.”
Required reading
(Photo: David Sherman / NBAE via Getty Images)
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