As Minnesota Timberwolves fans watched the New York Knicks take a 3-1 lead over the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals with an unbelievable 107-106 win, many felt a sense of pride for a certain player they have been connected to for over a decade.
A player whom those fans had seen endure so much tragedy, so many deflating losses, and frequent damaging narratives. But on Wednesday, that player was on top of the world, and those back in Minnesota who built a connection to him one way or the other watched gleefully as he burst with excitement and raw emotion.
I know the young boy in me did.
Karl-Anthony Towns emerged from the Echo & Rig restaurant within the Kimpton Sawyer hotel in Sacramento, CA on Mar. 4, 2023.
To his right was an older man, one of his mentors. The two walked through the hotel’s lobby and passed a cluster of seats where I was sitting with my Mom. Both of us, sporting Timberwolves gear, watched as he lumbered past. He glanced over, he waved, and we waved back as he walked to the porte-cochère to say goodbye to his mentor.
Towns walked past us again, no wave this time, around a corner to the elevators, and up to his room.
We were in town to watch the Timberwolves play the Sacramento Kings. We knew the Wolves were staying in that hotel. That’s why my Mom picked it, and why she spent way too much money so we could stay there, all in the hope of seeing a few players.
I got my wish. The player who made me fall in love with basketball. The player whose last name is on the first jersey I ever owned. He just waved at me. Pretty cool.
But then he came back, veering around the corner and walking right up to us.
The first words out of his mouth were an apology for not saying hello the first time. I stood up, we dapped each other up, and Towns couldn’t believe how tall I was.
There was no PR team facilitating the meet-and-greet. It was not pre-planned. There were no cameras (until I asked to take a picture). It was just Towns, out of the goodness of his heart, going out of his way to talk with two fans in the middle of a tough time for him personally.
Towns was going to miss his 45th straight game that evening with a grueling calf injury. He was in the thick of a long rehab battle and itching to get back on the court. We wished him well. He told us he was returning soon. But that didn’t happen for another three weeks.
It was the longest consecutive absence of his career, and one of the many times he was sidelined for a prolonged stretch in Minnesota. Even then, Towns made time to connect with fans. Before games at Target Center, even when he wasn’t playing, Towns still signed autographs and took pictures with fans.
In total, our interaction in that hotel lobby lasted about two minutes. It was an interaction that wasn’t out of the ordinary for Towns, who has always gone out of his way to connect with fans. But our short back-and-forth displayed his character. It built a connection between himself and a young fan. A connection that many Wolves fans had built with him in different ways.
Whether that be from on-court memories, meeting him at a restaurant and being wowed by his humble nature, reading an article about him, his consistent generosity in the community, or perhaps the tragedy he faced. It all built a connection. A connection that made New York’s win on Thursday emotional for many — myself included — back in Minneapolis.
New York’s Game 4 comeback Wednesday — the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history — was a perfectly fitting 48 minutes of basketball for Towns.
Well, he only played 26 of those 48 minutes because he picked up two fouls two minutes into the game. As he sat on the bench, Towns watched the Spurs build a 29-point lead. At halftime, Towns, now with three fouls, had only played seven minutes, and San Antonio’s lead stood at 27.
That type of night played out more than a few times for KAT with the Wolves. He was in foul trouble, and his team was losing in embarrassing fashion. It was the type of game that led to the damaging narratives always tied to Towns during his time in Minnesota.
He’s soft.
He can’t defend.
He can score, sure. But he isn’t a winner.
He is too emotional.
But that has never truly been who Towns is, especially not in the biggest moments. Most Wolves fans can remember him locking down Kevin Durant in the first round of the 2024 playoffs and leading Minnesota to its Game 7 comeback against Denver nearly a month later.
He made sacrifices during and leading up to that playoff run, doing whatever it took to win.
And now, on the NBA’s biggest stage in the biggest sports market in the United States, Towns has been a winner in every way that national pundits didn’t believe he could be.
Victor Wembanyama — the unstoppable anomaly that gave Wolves fans nightmares in the second round — is shooting 37.1% against Towns in the Finals, Wembanyama’s worst field goal percentage against his most frequent defenders in this year’s playoffs.
Towns played 18 minutes in the second half of Game 4. He was a +28 in those minutes, matched Wembanyama with physical, smart defense despite his fouls, and connected on two baskets midway through the fourth quarter as New York’s comeback was becoming more and more likely.
And after OG Anunoby converted the putback heard around the world, Towns sealed the win by tipping Dylan Harper’s inbound pass on the next possession.
With both hands in the air, Towns exploded with emotion as the final buzzer sounded and Madison Square Garden erupted into a frenzy around him. Towns knows the job isn’t finished yet, but he also knows how easily things could have gone the other way. Towns knows how close the Knicks were to dropping 2-2 in the series.
He knows all too well what it’s like to experience loss.
“Personally, I just wanted one break in life,” Towns told reporters postgame. “And I got one at that last play with OG making the shot and us getting the stop. I just wanted one break in life. One thing to go my way one time. And I’m glad it did.”
Throughout the playoffs, Towns has been praying to his late mother, Jacqueline Towns, who died in 2020 due to complications with COVID-19. Towns has been looking for signs that she is with him. And there is no doubt, as tears bubbled up in his eyes after Game 4, Towns felt his mother’s presence.
We all saw Towns grieve in the wake of his mother’s passing and the seven other family members he also lost due to complications of COVID-19. We all watched as Towns played his first game after all that tragedy in front of an empty Target Center in 2020, only to dislocate his wrist one game later, miss six games, and then contract COVID-19 himself and miss 13 straight games.
We all saw Towns persevere through many dark days in Minnesota — head coach firings, front office shake-ups, and a roster around him that constantly filtered through players that were never good enough to extract Towns’ talents into wins.
Jonah Kandikatla, a 22-year-old Wolves fan who first started watching the team in Ant’s rookie year, remembers the frustration he (and many others) felt over the foul trouble KAT struggled with in Minnesota and the frequent complaining to referees. But above all else, Towns’ willingness to adapt to different coaches and teammates stands out most to Kandikatla as he reflected on Towns’ time in Minnesota.
Because of those inconsistencies around him, Towns could have asked out. But that never happened. He remained loyal, kept a smile on his face even when there was little for him to smile about, and always made time for fans in both big and small ways.
He made the time for me. He took two minutes out of his afternoon on a rainy day in Northern California to create a memory with a star-struck 17-year-old, further and forever connecting that young boy with the celebrity he always wanted to play like.
And many Wolves fans, for whatever reason of their own, have a similar connection.
Wolves fans react to a photo of Karl-Anthony Towns on X after he took a 3-1 lead over the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals Wednesday night.
Towns is a celebrity who rarely acts like it. And from that, he has built a connection that will always remain between himself, Minnesota, and certainly me. A connection that remains strong as Towns and the Knicks have the chance to become World Champions Saturday night.
