Karl-Anthony Towns reveals that he still isn’t over being traded by Timberwolves originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Karl-Anthony Towns has now spent an entire season-plus as a member of the New York Knicks, but he still isn’t over being traded away from the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“I’m still stunned, I mean, I’m still stunned. It’s weird,” Towns said of the trade after the Knicks’ 137-114 win over the Wolves on Wednesday night, via ESPN. “I feel more like a Knick now after everything we went through last year, but it’s weird to see that Wolves jersey — especially the fire black one — and not see ‘Towns’ on the back of it.”
Towns spent the first nine years of his career in Minnesota after the Wolves selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, and he’s still proud of what he helped to build there, despite the fact that he didn’t get to see it through.
“Built something special there,” Towns said. “It’s different when you’re in process and now you’re going against the process. They’re a great team. To see what they’re doing right now, special, and I expect nothing less than greatness from them.”
For Towns, any game against his former squad affords him an opportunity to see and catch up with his old teammates, who he still considers family.
“It’s always great when you see your brothers,” Towns said. “[Anthony Edwards], becoming the face of the league. Me and Rudy [Gobert], years and years of battles against each other, turning teammates, having a close bond. It was really good to compete against my brothers. It’s deeper than basketball. It’s family.”
All things eventually come to an end, but Towns certainly left his mark on Minnesota’s record books during his time with the team. He currently sits second in Wolves history in total points (13,121), rebounds (6,216) and blocks (721). He’s also fourth in assists (1,815) and games played (573).
After spending so much time with the Wolves, it’s natural that Towns would still harbor some emotions about being traded by the franchise. It can be a difficult thing to digest. But, at least he was traded from one contending team to another and wasn’t sent to a bottom feeder. The Knicks made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last year, during Towns’ first season with the team. It was New York’s first conference finals appearance since 2000, and the team has designs on making another deep playoff run this year.
