Jon Hale

@JonHale_CJ

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After a Rookie of the Year season, former UK and current Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns has his sights set on bigger goals.

Asked Wednesday during an appearance at one of John Calipari’s basketball camps if he thought he could one day be the best player in the world, Towns did not hesitate.

“I honestly do,” Towns said. “I have the confidence in myself. I have everything I think to do it. Now it’s all up to me, to execute. Everyone in the NBA has the ability to do that. We all have the ability to be the best player in the world. Just matters who puts more time and puts more work in and who’s more fortunate enough to make it happen with the right situation. I feel that Minnesota right now gives me one of the best situations in all of the NBA.”

Towns never lacked for confidence in his one season at Kentucky or during his rookie year in the NBA.

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He led all NBA rookies in points (23.8) and rebounds (10.5) per game last season and is the center of a nucleus of young talent in Minnesota that also includes Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad, Ricky Rubio, Gorgui Dieng, Tyus Jones and Kris Dunn.

The Timberwolves and the NBA have used Towns heavily in their marketing campaigns. On draft night he was at the center of much of the NBA’s in-house coverage.

Still, he shied away from the “star” label Wednesday.

“I don't look at myself as an NBA star,” Towns said. “I'm definitely a player. I've worked hard to make that my title. But I think what the kid learned was always be humble and always enjoy humility. That was great chance for me to instill a good moral value.”

The always-eloquent Towns opened up on a number of topics in an almost 15-minute media session. Here are a few more highlights:

No regrets over dunk video

Video of Towns dunking on an adolescent at a recent basketball camp made went viral online, but he said the plays was all in fun.

“I look back at it now and maybe I went too aggressive, but I told the kid after – he was happy, he was smiling – so one of those things, I'm glad that I was able to give a lot of kids a lot of joy during the camp,” he said.

“I don't think anything bad could be taken away from the kid, because I'm an NBA player. He's still a kid, so it's not like he's supposed to jump up and block it. I think it was a great experience. The kid knows why the event happened. I'm glad that he learned from it.”

Towns impressed by new Wildcats

Towns has yet to play with Kentucky’s 2016-17 squad, but he is impressed by the talent Calipari has assembled in Lexington.

“I don’t think I need to jump in a pick-up game to know how talented they are,” Towns said. “It’s on paper. I don’t need to see it. They’re going to be a very good team, possibly one that rivals ours.”

UK post-player rivalry

Early in Calipari’s UK tenure his reputation centered on developing NBA point guards like Derrick Rose, John Wall and Brandon Knight, but recently his biggest successes have come from his tallest players.

With Towns, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis and other former UK post players starring in the NBA, a friendly rivalry has developed between the former Calipari players.

READ MORE: Towns stellar rookie year preceded by grief

“We definitely look forward to those games where we play against each other,” Towns said. “They’re great friends of mine and like brothers as well. We love competing against each other at the highest level and we have a strong connection.”

Waving the UK flag

Towns’ status as one of the NBA’s rising stars has led to UK and Calipari featuring him prominently in promotional material, including a recent day-long appearance alongside Calipari at ESPN.

He has no problem waving the flag for UK.

“This is a place that’s very special to me in my heart,” Towns said. “Always been special to my family as well. … (It was) a great experience, a great life that I lived here. May have been one year, six months, but I’ve been able to fit a lot of achievements, a lot of joy, a lot of excitement into six months that a lot of people get in their whole lifetime, being here at the University of Kentucky.”

Email Jon Hale atjahale@courier-journal.com. Follow him on Twitter@JonHale_CJ.