The young man is so polished for his age. That was the case when Karl-Anthony Towns lived up to all the hype of being the number one pick in last year’s Draft, winning unanimous Rookie of the Year honors in a unanimous vote. Towns led all rookies in scoring (18.3) and rebounds (10.5), and gave Minnesota reason to believe a quick turnaround next season under new Coach Tom Thibodeau and fast rising teammates Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine is possible.
Towns was in Cleveland for Game 6 of The Finals after spending a week in China for Nike, and came to The Finals with Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell, one of his best friends (he told the L.A. Daily News that Russell was someone “I would let my daughter date if I had one.” Perhaps we’ll just leave this over here.) But Towns clearly has a leg up on his friend when it comes to team building.
Me: Why did you want to come to The Finals?
Karl-Anthony Towns: I wanted to learn. All this energy, and this atmosphere, it’s unmatched. I just wanted to come and learn how and what it takes to be in The Finals and how it is to be in The Finals. I want to bring this to Minnesota. This is what I want to bring, this playoff atmosphere. Especially in The Finals.
Me: I’m sure you’ve looked at a lot of Bulls tapes already, and you see how Thibs used Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah at the top in a lot of sets. Is that transferrable to your skill set, given your proclivity already with the jumper?
KAT: I work tremendously hard on my game, so anywhere he puts me, I feel comfortable. That’s what my game is built around, versatility. I understand the course of how I play, which is being as versatile as possible. If he needs me to be (like) the Golden State Warriors, Klay (Thompson), Stephen (Curry), Anderson Varejao, all of them. That’s how my game is built.
Me: Now, you know some folks around the league already, and I’m sure you know Thibs’ rep. Have you told him ‘look, we’re young, but that doesn’t mean we need to have three-hour practices all the time’?
KAT: I work on my body tremendously to be able to withstand whatever is thrown my way. And if he’s a grinder like we all hear he is, hopefully I have a big enough cheese roll to make it through the season. He can grind me out the whole year.
Me: What is the next step for your young nucleus up there: yourself and Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine?
KAT: Making the playoffs and learning to win more games than our history shows. And that’s big. Andrew and Zach have had two years of experience; I’ve had one. But I think one thing I can bring is my experience at Kentucky. I know what it feels to be like the Golden State Warriors, be undefeated, have history on the line, make history. For them, it’s all about finishing history. Unfortunately in college I didn’t get a chance to finish history. They have a chance. You never want to look back and say you didn’t do enough. That’s what I bring to Andrew and Zach and the nucleus, and that winning tradition that I’ve built since high school and built in college.
Me: So much was made of the mentorship Kevin Garnett brought to you this year. It’s obviously up to him what he decides to do, but if he doesn’t come back next year, what will you take from your season with him?
KAT: Everything. The Rookie of the Year (award) doesn’t happen without him. He teaches me so much. My rookie year was so much easier, and it was so much shorter than most rookies, due to the fact that I had KG. That changes everything. I was blessed to have the opportunity to play with KG — not only learn, but play with KG. Not many people in the NBA are able to say that.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
— Pacers center Myles Turner (@Original_Turner), Thursday, 10:37 p.m., as Stephen Curry was being ejected from Game 6 after picking up his sixth foul, then uncharacteristically losing it with the referees.
THEY SAID IT
“No matter how you look at it, how you twist it or turn it, whether I think it was right or wrong, whether someone else thinks it was right or wrong, I let my teammates down. And I feel like when you let your teammates down, it’s being a bad teammate.”
— Draymond Green, during a sitdown interview with me following his Game 5 Finals suspension for striking LeBron James in the groin in the waning moments of Game 4.
“Whatever happens, happens. We had a great run, maybe the best ever for a Big Three. We’ll see what happens.”
— Tony Parker, to the San Antonio Express News, on the looming deadlines for both Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili to decide if they’re going to return next season or retire. Ginobili has until Wednesday to opt in for the last year of his contract; Duncan has until June 29 to decide. (Ginobili has committed to playing in Rio for his native Argentina in August, for what that’s worth.) Of course, both players could also work out long-term deals with the Spurs if they so chose.
“It sounds so old-man ridiculous to me. Everything gets better in America except basketball players. I’m telling you … if the stopwatch had never been invented, they would be arguing that Jesse Owens was faster than Usain Bolt. Or that Mark Spitz swam faster than Michael Phelps. And it just doesn’t make any sense.”
— ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas, on criticism of today’s NBA game by former players.
MORE MORNING TIP: David Aldridge’s Weekly Top 15 Rankings | Cleveland rises to the top at last
Longtime NBA reporter and columnist David Aldridge is an analyst for TNT. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter.
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