Timberwolves Roundup: Towns’ birthday celebration, and more
By Ben Beecken
Karl-Anthony Towns turned 22 years old on Wednesday, and he had an extremely busy day, from a headline-grabbing interview to a massive performance in a win over the San Antonio Spurs in the evening.
As hard as it is to believe, Karl-Anthony Towns has been in a Timberwolves uniform for two full seasons, plus 14 games. But, shockingly enough, he just turned 22 years old on Wednesday night.
Towns should already be a borderline All-Star once the calendar flips to 2018 and he’ll surely contend for one of the three All-NBA teams at season’s end, but this would still be his senior year at the University of Kentucky had he not entered the draft back in 2015.
Early in the day on Wednesday, ESPN.com’s Nick Friedell, who covered the Tom Thibodeau-era Chicago Bulls and has been following the Timberwolves early on this season, posted a question-and-answer session with the Wolves star. The interview focused largely on the issue of medicinal marijuana, both from a broad perspective and in terms of potential use from NBA players.
It’s a good read, and Towns, as a kinesiology major at Kentucky with a mother who has been in the medical field for 20+ years, is in a solid place to speak on the issue. Here’s a few interesting excerpts:
"Is the legalization of marijuana discussed among players?Yeah, I think it’s discussed. But I look at it from my experience with it. I’ve never smoked, I’ve never taken a strand, I’ve never taken properties of it, whatever the case may be. But I deal with kids all the time at autistic schools, Reed Academy in New Jersey. My girlfriend has an autistic nephew, and you realize those properties of marijuana can do a lot of good for kids and for adults. These guys, just because we’re NBA athletes, we’re not super humans. Some of us have conditions that could use [medicinal marijuana] to our benefit for everyday living, just taking care of our kids and our families.…You mentioned earlier that this topic is discussed among players. Do you think medicinal marijuana use is something a lot of players are in favor of?I think in the right context it would be beneficial. Obviously, everything in moderation. We don’t have a Tylenol bottle and take six of them. You take what’s directed to help you feel better. We have an amazing drug program for our questions, and we have great backing by the association who does so much research, and they do so much great work with that. Whether it’s not legal, whether it’s legal, they always do a great job of making sure that they give the players every chance to be healthy."
Towns continues to impress with his media savvy and knowledgeable opinions on a wide variety of topics. It’s items like this question-and-answer that contribute to NBA general managers naming him as the number-one player they would start a franchise with. The off-the-court stuff remains off the charts for KAT, and the Wolves are lucky to have him.
When Wednesday evening rolled around, Towns led the Wolves to a 12-point win over the mighty San Antonio Spurs. Towns put up 26 points, 16 rebounds, two blocks, two assists, and a steal, while nobody else on the squad managed more than 16 points and Jimmy Butler was held to just six.
The Elias Sports Bureau dug up a strange-but-true statistic specific to young big men and their birthdays: only two other players in NBA history managed 25-point, 15-rebound games on their birthdays at as young of an age as Towns. Chris Webber did it on his 21st birthday in 1994, and Terry Cummings did it on his 22nd back in 1983.
Next: Top-5 crossovers of Jamal Crawford's career
And there you have it. It was a happy, happy birthday for Karl-Anthony Towns, as well as his Minnesota Timberwolves and their fans.