Getty Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns
Minnesota Timberwolves forward, Karl Anthony Towns is a modern big man.
The first pick in the 2015 NBA Draft out of Kentucky, Towns has a solid back to the basket game, a consistent face-up jumper, a 3-point shot and a slick dribble.
Per Clutchpoints: The Timberwolves big man is posting career-highs in rebounding (12.5), assists (3.3), and steals per game (0.9) — all while remaining a force at both ends of the court and still growing into the superstar the franchise expects him to blossom into after doling out a hefty extension this past summer.
On the second episode of the Scoop B & Reg Podcast, I asked retired 17 year NBA veteran, Sam Perkins who plays like him in today’s game.
Yep, you guessed it!
“Karl Anthony Towns,” Sam Perkins tells Scoop B & Reg.
The fourth pick in the the 1984 NBA Draft, Sam Perkins was USA Basketball’s Male Athlete of the Year that same year and spent 17 years in the NBA with notable stints with the Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and the Seattle SuperSonics.
Big Smooth averaged 11 points and 6 rebounds during his career and had solid roles during a couple of NBA Finals appearances with the Lakers, Sonics and the Pacers.
Simply put: Perkins is the epitome of a stretch big man before it became popular this decade.
That’s where Towns comes in.“He goes inside and he can shoot the three,” says Perkins.
“Things that he does makes himself efficient so, I would say him. Before then it would have been Chris Bosh because he did inside out as well.”
Note: Towns is NO JOKE from downtown! The big man is hitting above a 40 percent clip for the second straight season, being a whisker shy of a 40 percent career shooter through his four-year career in the league.
NBA writer, Bruno Manrique said it best in one of his recent columns via Clutchpoints: There is hardly anyone in the league just as lethal from distance as they are from the low-block and Towns sweetly mixes brutal strength at the offensive end with a feathery-smooth jumper from all spots outside the arc.
The Wolves won’t make the NBA Playoffs this season. Last season, the Wolves lost 4-1 in round one of last year’s NBA Playoffs to a Houston Rockets team that eventually made it to the Western Conference Finals.
Towns would finish the series averaging 15 points and 13 rebounds.
It’s all about growth for Towns and one of his mentors is in his corner: Kevin Garnett.
“He’s the future,” Kevin Garnett told me via ScoopB.com.
Last summer, Towns’ father, Karl Towns, Sr.told the Scoop B Radio Podcast that the best thing that happened to his son was Kevin Garnett because, “Garnett taught Karl how to be a pro.”
Garnett boxing out Miami’s Chris Bosh during a game last November (Getty)
To that, Garnett is pleased. “It’s dope, it’s dope,” said Garnett.
“When you come into this league, you don’t believe there’s a better player. But when he came into it, I see a lot of similarities in Karl to myself. If I could ever be an inspiration and lead him into that, I’ve always wanted to be that. And the fact that he took heed and took some of the advice I gave him is more than honorable, so it’s dope.”
Kevin Garnett was very instrumental to Towns’ growth during his first year in the NBA. “He continuously told me to be patient,” Towns told me via Basketball Society Online.
“Being patient on the court, everything will begin to slow down. I mean, just how to be a professional, how to be a professional in this game on and off the court. Just to do my best to lead and that’s the biggest thing.”