In theory Karl-Anthony Towns should be an easy player to root for. A guy who has stuck by a struggling franchise for a long time and went through lots of chaos and dysfunction in the organization, but on top of it all, he endured cruel tragedy losing his mother and several family members to the COVID-19 pandemic. I hope for a deep Wolves playoff run for his sake as much as anyone else's.
100%. I left out the personal struggles from the video just because I feel like RU-vidrs will tell athlete’s personal stories for views at times, so I wanted to keep that separate. But you’re absolutely correct!
I know why because he's really a great person who's totally misunderstood. It's always been like that from the time he was a kid growing up to now. People love to hate on those who, when you meet them, have nothing but respect for you, and all you have is grief. "Misery loves company."
Current NBA fandom feeds off of memes and hot takes. So it’s expected that a lot of these guys are going to face a lot more shit talking than normal. He honestly has had some disappointing moments, but he’s a definite stud.
He gets such a bad whistle. I swear they call any little thing on him. KAT has been loyal and extremely talented and has proved the haters wrong this season by stepping up his defense in a big way and adjusting to playing the 4. He deserves alot of credit
Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert really changed the locker room. Both are mature leaders, Rudy controls the defense and will tell KAT,Ant, Jaden, and all the young players how to run the defense and what they need to do. Conley is the older brother that KAT and Ant can ask anything about and who they can rely on whenever games are out of control. Remember that the wolves had DLO who didn’t like Gobert, played 0 defense, wasn’t a leader.
@@davidtaylor8645the Lakers have been delusional since they thought it was a good idea to blow up the team that won them a chip. There was no reason not to run it back. The Lakers management makes me wanna rage so hard.
This shouldn’t be a redemption story though. The general NBA fan hates him because of his voice and narratives about his personality. Not basketball reasons.
We can argue if it should or shouldn’t. But it is going to be regardless. Which makes it a massive story. And the NBA media hates him too for being “not a winning player”.
Nah you are seriously wrong. Kat has not been good in the playoffs, and he wines on the court a ton. It’s for basketball reasons why people don’t take him seriously. The voice and awkwardness off court may add to it. But he’s not taken seriously because he hasn’t done anything amazing outside the regular season. If he goes off this playoffs he 100% will get more respect.
You must have forgotten when towns was getting clowned for poorly he played in the grizzlies series when he was supposed to be the wolves number one option
KAT has gotten so much criticism in his years of the NBA, and rightly so... but this year watching games, this is by far his best season of his career. He's probably the player on the Wolves' roster that had to sacrifice the most and mend into this new system both offensively and defensively. I have little to no criticism for him this year, but the media still literally nit-pick at him yet. He's stayed level-headed, calm and collected after that Boston game early on - that is his biggest improvement. The question is if this play carries over to the playoffs. If by some miracle that happens, I don't see why they won't end up in the Finals; we all know Ant is going to bring it every night and same with Gobert. If KAT can do the same... wow...
nuggets lose if they play any team out of the east celtics bucks and timberwolves are just better . unless jokic had a dirk type of playoff run where he dominates stacked teams its a wrap.
I don’t know why people even got the narrative that Kat is mad that this is “Ants team” or Ant being the #1 option… he’s shown so much love to ant, idk where that narritave comes from. In fact, my biggest gripe with KAT is sometimes it feels like he defers too much. Maybe it’s the foul trouble or something else that gets in his head, but sometimes he doesn’t just have that consistency of high offensive output
I don't even think this is Ants team. Ant is medicore offensively and this is unacceptable for the best play on a contender. Ant only has 58% true shooting. By the way, NBA average is 58%. An average posession by Ant is not better than the league average... let along superstar on a contender. On the other hand, KAT true shooting is 62% which is elite. He has always been good. He just finally got some help.
hes rushing and desperate. with his rival embiid getting 20ft a night for doing a fouled action move and getting a whistle everytime he probably thought the refs are biased on him. thats my take. wolves are the only one i watch live "sometimes other games too within the same day" in nba seasons for 4-5 years now so anyway finch really thought last 2 years playoffs towns will score 20+pts on 50/40 percent just by making him do a post up move on double teams while his teammates watch and wait for rebounds.
It's not just NBA media, I think nba fans are also partially at blame. Somehow many fans think assholes who find whatever angle to insult their teammate in the most obnoxious way possible, like jimmy butler or Kobe, are better leaders than mature leaders like Tim Duncan or Lebron who know how to communicate efficiently while controlling their temper. The best leaders/communicators know to convince others to do the right thing, without creating unnecessary conflict. Being brunt can be effective communication in some cases... but finding the most nasty angle to insult your teammate like Kobe or Jimmy butler do, is most likely far from best leadership practice.
No, it’s the fact that he never lived up to his potential. His name should be in the conversation with people like embid and Jokic. They started attacking him when he decided to launch a gaming channel while having losing, mediocre seasons and he’s suppose to be the man on the team. Jimmy gave them work with the second tier team because he knew they may be the stars but they don’t care. No killer mentality. No will to win. Now minn has a real dog as the guy like antman
@@SickNYC most nba players have distractions on the side, much like the video games hobby of towns, jimmy is a hypocrite if he only pratice, play nba games and go home. when the day bulter called up the media and say his story, i said "THATS YOUR STORY, OF COURSE OTHER PEOPLE ARE BAD IN IT AND YOU ARE THE THAT IS GOOD" i stand on that still to this day, fans will be fans of course, the celebrity effect is something else you can make an army of it. it doesnt help to make him credible when its reported that butler demanded max contract(if i remember correctly) or a salary same with towns and wiggins, before the drama.
Thank you for framing up the issue before jumping into the background. Too many spend 80% recapping background info leaving us wondering what the video is actually about. Great content
I still can’t over that you said we “can’t blame him for the first six years of his career” SIX YEARS. That’s longer than most dude’s careers!! So we clearly can’t blame those guys for their careers at all, right? Nah, wild.
Even when Towns was at 5, there were already hints that he was better suited at 4. Kudos to the management for seeing this and switched him to his natural position. Have you even seen a stretch 4 before? I think he's the first.
stretch 4 is an old archtype dirk is the most obvious one, garnet to some extend, love in cavs and bosh. Hell if you really want to stretch it KD post gsw is a stretch 4
you're right. I glossed over it just because that was more of unlocking Rudy than Kat. But it all works together. The subtraction of DLo and addition of Mike Conley has been EVERYTHING
The narrative of KAT is from social media and what people see on national TV games. That is the problem with playing for a smaller market team you only have a few chances a year to prove yourself to the national audience. So if you have a bad game of national TV that is what will be remembered.
As a MN fan, I think KAT could solve the perception issue by not caring what people think. If he could block out some of the noise (which is very difficult) and just play ball, his game speaks for itself.
Had you told me 10 years ago the Thunder, the Nuggets and the Wolves were the top 3 teams in the west, I would have said, well... the Thunder make sense, KD is a monster. Never would have crossed my mind that of the 3 the Nuggets already have a title, and did so with a 2nd round pick as their top player.
The issue with him is that, if he’s not scoring , he’s really not doing much. While he is quite athletic , you can also push him around, throw him off his game with physicality
Tbh idk why Kat is so hated on he’s gone through so much bad stuff since coming into the league like many of his family members dying to Covid and almost dying twice in car crashes and he’s a pretty likeable guy
He's accepted that he is the second option, and improved his game a lot this season. I semi-joke with friends how it's wild that Ant is whining about fouls to the refs more than KAT for once
This summer I was so mad at him. His national team and him had a great shooting night and destroyed Italy BUT he was playing so fucking out of control, and he should have had 2 offensive foul and an additional defensive foul by mid second quarter.
I can’t believe you skipped the Rockets series in the Jimmy Butler year. Karl didn’t show up in the playoffs with Jimmy. That’s when the narrative truly started for Karl and fans wondered whether he was a winning player each night. He’s focused up now though on both ends. Those questions don’t exist anymore.
I've been a Nuggets fan for a long time now, and I have always liked Kat. I never really heard bad things about him. I also like Anthony Edwards. If the Nuggets can't repeat, I would probably root for the Wolves
Towns is just finally in a role that suits him, as the 3rd most important player on a contender. He doesn’t need to be as prominent on defense since gobert is there, and he doesn’t have to be the leader since ant is there. he just does what he does best scoring and he isn’t even the first option. So that is why nothing has changed in peoples minds the success is not on him.
@@user-xt4mh4yf1n how am I a hater I am just stating why people may still have questions about him. But I do agree with the video if he is able to step up in the playoffs he will probably get acknowledged for that.
I feel like a lot of KAT’s struggles just filter down to the fact that he’s been playing on a team that’s been losing for so long, I feel like that mentality has kinda been forced into his mind. I feel he got “exposed” in the playoffs and play-in because of how quickly the culture shift happened in Minnesota. If I had to put money on it, I feel like KAT will be a better playoff player and performer in the ladder half of his career.
I’ve watched that play-in game vs LAC like 5 times and of those 6 fouls only 4 are legit fouls and on the other end dude was being fouled every time he touched the ball or tried to post up and not a single foul was called Also why is it KAT is the ONLY player that’s criticized for “whining” or “complaining” to the refs?
Respectfully, I disagree with the notion that the 2022 Play In/Playoffs ruined KAT’s reputation. Folks dogpiled after Jimmy and it’s been uphill from there. The Memphis series was brutal, though, I think it validated a lot of the haters.
Fair enough! I think that’s when the clowning about the off the court stuff started. Validation is probably a correct word for 2022. There was some hope he had broken away from that previous school of thought with the incredible season he was having. But the playin/memphis series solidified it.
@@hardwood_yt yes, and I don’t mean to nitpick fyi, I liked your breakdown and agreed totally. It’s been a journey and it’s hard to not feel badly for KAT for being dragged by the media/NBA community for so many years. He’s a good dude.
@@ben_jammin9470 oh dude I totally appreciate the pushback and opinion! Didn’t get that vibe at all. I appreciate your contribution via the comment. I am selfishly hoping the narrative turns this spring.
If he had a different position player with the actual SAME level player, they would be in a completely different position. Im not even a Timberwolves fan either. Ant is good but i never seen a buzzer beater from him.
KAT is like Ben Simmons in that we can all see talent that could dominate the league but they lack the mentality to do that. Which is fine really. Most players can’t be that. But when there is so much talent people tend to see it as wasted on a #2 guy. Bit unfair sure, but most people also complain about ”What if Shaq had work ethic.” so even greats get shit when they underperform. Lebron get’s it constantly for ringchasing and squadpadding unlike his historical peers of elite talent. It’s part of the game.
It’s called playing for the Timberwolves If Kevin Garnett or Kevin Love couldn’t, I don’t see why Towns would be any different. They’re like the Lions of the NBA, it’s where careers go to die.
Honestly I want KAT to win a ring with the TWolves just so we can definitively say that Kevin Garnett was wrong when he said winning a title in Minnesota was impossible, lmao
I’ll always be grateful to Towns for being the catalyst of what eventually ended with a pissed off Jimmy Butler finding a home in Miami we were kind of flailing after Wade retired in that place teams can get trapped in for a decade or more, where you see too good to tank but not good enough to win anything that matters, the second Jimmy showed up all that changed so again, thank you Towns, you’ll always be a legend in Miami Heat lore
I thought I was the only one who peeped this he attached himself to Ant bc he’s undeniably good but before that he had a terrible attitude towards him being #1 option
The second half of his 60 point game still definitely has me doubting him because that was just a horrible display of immaturity and I worry it’ll happen again in the playoffs. I’m rooting for him to improve and for the twolves to prove the doubters wrong but if I had to bet on a reason y’all would fail it would be Kat flaming out again.
Whoa whoa whoa his rep was questioned while jimmy was there, while other pieces were there. This didn’t just start, they’ve started turning the corner for sure but he’s not the #1 guy either.
Kats never tried to leave because he can stay there and be mid. If he went to the lakers or something the media would come for him lol. He’s on your team so y’all feel loyal but believe me no team is stressin about the wolves in the playoffs…
Until they’re matched up with them!!!! Their reason Denver prefer not to see wolves… other teams don’t matter in west that’s our focus rematch with Denver with Naz and McDaniel this time ho around. Remember five if laker titles are from Minneapolis where lakers were founded.
I think that the analysis with him is easy. He is an incredible shooter, has a great first step, he is a great athlete. However, he does not know how to play basketball: angles of the body, when to be aggressive and when not, when to force and when not, how to throw tough and contexted passes, etc. So he can get points. He can have amazing performances. But he can also disappear completely. It depends on the shot working that night and what the opposite team is doing. He cannot adapt or control it. You need to hope is a good night and the other team did not prepare something that can challenge him too much.
yup. Im pretty plugged into the wolves fanbase and people were still calling for him to be traded. But the Wolves were pretty clear they didnt feel it was enough time at all and were going to give it a full season
KAT and Embiid are the same guy - all-time talented big men who SHOULD dominate every time they step on the court, who each want credit for ‘changing the game’ before they’ve accomplished anything of note, and then they love to whine to the media when people don’t see them as such. btw Mickey Mouse MVPs don’t count
Towns is a pretty complicated player. First off I think it's outright false he has any problems stemming from his mentality. Nothing he has said has indicated that he doesn't take responsibility, conversely he always does. I think this stems from a stereotype that nice guys can't be winners which is dubious. You don't shoot 44% from three after overcoming an injury at 7ft with a losing mentality. Furthermore, his defense has significantly improved, which is supported by stats, and with the exception of a few late game possessions, has been phenomenal with shot selection this year. But as a Timberwolves fan he does have a few frustrating qualities. First is his tendency to draw offensive fouls. I hear this stems from his reputation of hooking arms when he drives, which makes sense and sucks because he gets called for lesser fouls than the likes of Giannis and Joel. The second is when he's not getting called for an offensive foul he resorts to taking a falling shot and even if he scores, the other team pushes the pace with him on the ground. But again this year his decision making seems to be better and he's doing at lower rate than prior years. The West is loaded, if we win one playoff series I say keep KAT and run it back. Apologize for my rant
"played well in the lakers play-in" dude he got completely clamped in the 2nd half, he had Reeves on him and couldnt impact the game. He is totally redundant to the teams current success, but he has fit in this season and hasnt shipwrecked the the team which is great. If he tries to 'step-up and prove something' in the playoffs he will blow it for the team, just let Mike, Ant and Kyle make the decisions on offence and do what Rudy, Mike and Kyle say on defence and the wolves can go all the way. Hitting a few big open shots when they actually need them would be nice for a 50million dollar player to.
He just had bad luck with the media honest with that demarcus cousin baby pic to throw in “shade” at ant in his rookie year bout Popeye💀changing to voice in interviews 😂 but he's not a bad player
What the hell do you expect him to do really like what more would make a difference individually his teams haven’t been that talented until now yall are anything
