Your entire opinion of Karl-Anthony Towns may change after this

Playing professional basketball may be a dream to many young college hoopers, but the opportunity to play basketball for the Minnesota Timberwolves is especially dear to Timberwolves center-turned-power forward Karl-Anthony Towns. This was a young man who was drafted with the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, a small-market NBA franchise that had just finished the 2014-15 season with a record of 16-66.

There are plenty of ongoing discussions about the future NBA career of Timberwolves star shooting guard Anthony Edwards, and how former teammate Patrick Beverley believes that Edwards will simply become potbound by playing too long for the Minnesota Timberwolves. But somewhere along the way, some Timberwolves fans have forgotten that Karl-Anthony Towns was the young man who put this team back onto the NBA map.

Towns gets little to no credit for his role in shaping the Minnesota Timberwolves into NBA relevancy, and all of the blame when this team falls short of expectations. The truth of the matter is that the Timberwolves roster has fallen short, but I think that will begin to change. Since the Timberwolves have combined Towns with star shooting guard Anthony Edwards, this team has played to a combined three-season record of 111 wins and 125 losses.

But over the past two seasons, the Timberwolves have 88 wins to just 76 losses.

Who is your plus-one?

The fact that any success by the Minnesota Timberwolves has required Karl-Anthony Towns plus one other star player is easily misinterpreted. Yes, the Timberwolves made the NBA Playoffs when the team combined guard Jimmy Butler with Towns. Yes, the Timberwolves made the NBA Playoffs when the team combined Anthony Edwards with Towns.

The common thread is not the plus one, but rather Karl-Anthony Towns. He has been the Rock of Gibraltar, that passionate player who has weathered plenty of bad seasons but still competes to the best of his ability.  You might think that has made him calloused and insensitive to his fans and his critics. Actually, the opposite is true, particularly when it comes to Timberwolves fans:

Can I get your autograph?

And so, it should come as no surprise to find evidence of just how warmly receptive Towns can be to one of his fans. At a time of social media shaming and putting people on blast, here is a moment when a fan gets a lifelong memory because an NBA player took the time to take a photo with him.

But this is not a one-off. It’s how KAT rolls. There are plenty of photos shared on social media where a fan gets a photo with Towns. And each one appears genuine, too.

Okay, so he’s kind to fans. What about the outburst on the basketball court? Or, as one of his harshest critics claims, his ‘petulant outbursts’?

Passion

Passionate players play from their emotions. Some fans do not always ‘get’ what that means, but for the few who do, it’s like a cool breeze on a sweltering hot and muggy summer day. For those fans who stand and applaud a great play on the basketball court from the stands, or yell at the television set after a bad play, you don’t want to see players compete like automatons.

It’s the emotional component that connects fans to players. And that emotion and passion is starting to come back to KAT, thanks to his participation in the 2023 FIBA World Cup Tournament.

Some of the most important players in professional sports play off the strength of their emotions. As far as connecting to fans, those emotions simply prove that the player cares about the outcome of the game.

His comments get taken out of context. He gets tossed into NBA Trade scenarios just because. He is the topic of NBA rumors despite being quite content to continue playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

He simply loves playing basketball, and he loves playing basketball for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Did your opinion of Karl-Anthony Towns change after reading this? Mine did not. I have always held the player in high regard. Hopefully, the number of fans who appreciate KAT will increase.