KAT Wants the Ball, Finch Happy to Oblige

Karl-Anthony Towns has often been looked down upon by his NBA peers. Blame Jimmy Butler if you want but KAT has developed a reputation around the league for being “soft” and it’s a tag the Minnesota Timberwolves big man has been trying to shake for years.

Well, winning this season is helping that process on multiple levels. At 31-28, the Wolves are comfortably in the top-8 of the Western conference and have the opportunity to avoid the play-in tournament all together, should they finish the second half strong.

To do that, head coach Chris Finch wants to “feature” KAT to a greater degree down the stretch. And coming off of an All-Star weekend that included a 3-point shootout victory over some of the league’s top long-distance snipers, Towns thinks that is a great idea. Just ask him.

Chris Finch said today at practice that he wants to "feature" Karl-Anthony Towns more down the stretch of this season.

Here was KAT when asked if he has a preference on where he wants to be featured… pic.twitter.com/dAZgEcndcg

— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) February 23, 2022

That’s more like it.

Now that is the quotes I’d want to read from the leader of my basketball team. Being a nice guy is great and empowering your teammates is even better. But the best of the best know they are better than everyone else on the floor. They need that type of confidence to be great.

I’ve been one of Towns’ biggest critics throughout his NBA career. But for the most part, that criticism hasn’t revolved around his play. It’s been about his attitude and the way he carries himself, especially when a microphone is in front of his mouth. Like last week, when he groaned about how tired he was after a huge performance vs the Hornets.

But the Karl-Anthony Towns who answered Dane Moore‘s question today doesn’t worry about fatigue. He cares only about taking the ball and using it to rip out the heart of his opponents.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan