

While most of the NBA world debates the merits of resting stars and picks apart the incredible contenders for the MVP award, a superstar is emerging in Minnesota. Karl-Anthony Towns has quietly become one of the league’s most dominant forces. On Monday night, Towns set a single-season scoring record for the Timberwolves, which is an impressive feat considering that Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love both put up monstrous numbers in their time in Minnesota during their primes. Towns is in just his second year, but he’s already emerged as one of the most productive centers in the league and his numbers since the turn of the calendar to 2017 have been unreal. Towns is averaging 25.1 points and 12.1 rebounds per game this season, with a true shooting percentage of 61.6 percent. And he’s expanded his range significantly — much like Garnett and Love did — to shoot 36.2 percent from three-point range. Those stats are impressive, but what he’s done since January are even more staggering. Towns is averaging 28.1 points per game over the last 41 games of the season as he’s taken his role as the leader of the Wolves offense to a new level. Since the All-Star break, he’s posted 28.4 points and 13.0 rebounds per game on an absurd 59.3/41.8/84.0 shooting split. The wins haven’t come as consistently as Towns would like, but his production leading a young team has created a great deal of optimism in Minnesota for the future. Towns is quick to deflect praise to those around him, from coaches to teammates, but he’s on the precipice of being one of the league’s biggest stars — his production is already there. Towns spoke with Dime Magazine over the phone recently to talk about making the leap this season, learning to deal with the business of basketball, conversations with Kevin Garnett, his work off the court to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) programs with kids, the biggest thing he learned at Kentucky, and what he wants to work on this summer.



You took a big leap in production this year and have been especially so since the calendar turned to 2017. Was there something in particular that clicked or what was it that’s led to this dominant stretch you’ve been on? I think, for me, it’s just understanding the game a little more. Taking the time and finding ways to implement myself into the offense a little better and also the system is benefitting me and I’m just having a lot of fun playing with my teammates.

One of those teammates, Ricky Rubio, has also been really good of late, really ever since the trade deadline. When that came and went and he stayed in place, was there a sense of relief like “Okay, this is our group, we can just focus on finishing out this season strong?” I think it’s more of just all of us are building something great in Minnesota, and it’s building blocks. You’ve got to continue to work day in and day out to do something special. So for us, we’re just continuing to get better as the season progresses. Lately, we’ve been trying to put things together so we’re ready to be the team that we want to be. What is that like when you’re a young guy and you’re first experiencing when trade talks and rumors are floating around about key guys. People talk a lot about adjusting to the on-court part of NBA life, but is there a bit of a learning curve to understanding the business part of basketball too and playing through that? I think there is. I think as a rookie you gotta understand that everything is a business. You have to understand also that this is a job, this is not being in school anymore. Everything comes with certain amount of severity, these are people’s lives, lives are at stake and this is how they put food on their family’s table. I understand that, but at the end of the day you go out there and you’ve got to play. I put the work in every single day and make sure I can be the best possible player I can for my teammates and I go out there and try my best every single night and give 100 percent.



In an interview last year you said you didn’t think anything could beat a Coach Cal practice in terms of intensity. How has the workload been in the first year under Coach Thibs? I think it’s been great. For me I’ve enjoyed having the time to learn from such a great coach in Coach Tom Thibodeau and be with such a great coaching staff as well and be with such a great organization. It’s been a great path I’ve been a part of and I’m glad the journey that’s been given to me is one that’s been so vibrant and so loving, and also given a chance for me to be the best player I can be. How often are you still in contact with KG and what kind of things do you still talk with him about? We have a lot of good conversations. We talk about everything from basketball to education to whatever it may be. KG knows that I’m trying to finish school, which is also why I’m here with Verizon here with the We Need More program, to help these kids understand that science, technology, engineering, and math is such a big thing and with all these jobs available right now, find ways to instill in kids the skills they need to be not only the best at what they do, but the best in the field and the best at the jobs that will be coming available to them.