Towns intending to keep his promise to team, fans
Karl-Anthony Towns has referred to it on more than one occasion. It was a promise, one made nearly three years ago to Flip Saunders — and to a franchise and an entire community. He was going to help end the Timberwolves’ playoff drought.
Towns and the Timberwolves (46-35) are one game away from carrying that promise out. Minnesota needs one more win — a victory in what, for all intents and purposes, is a play-in game at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Denver (46-35) at Target Center — in the final contest of the regular season to secure its first postseason berth since 2004.
“It would be obviously the biggest moment of my career,” Towns said. “I’ve always wanted to be in the playoffs, always wanted to play playoff basketball.”
The fact he hasn’t done so in his first two seasons seems to burn inside of him, much like the fact that he didn’t win an NCAA title in his one season at Kentucky. It’s all part of his competitive drive.
“I want to be the best,” he said. “If I put my heart and my soul into it with any effort inside of me, I want to be the best at it, so I don’t like losing. I understood the situation when I got drafted here and I want to be part of the fix, not the problem. So I wanted to make sure I did everything in my power to find ways to win.”
He particularly wants to do it for Minnesota. Towns has only taken part in two of the Wolves’ 13 consecutive playoff misses, but he never hesitates to wear the full breadth of the franchise’s past failures. When asked why he does so, Towns said it’s because “this franchise is a part of me.”
“This franchise has given me the start to my career. It’s given me the life that I’ve always wanted to live. I’m forever grateful to this franchise,” he said. “So, yeah, I take those things very personally, and (Wednesday) is a game that’s bigger than just how I feel. It’s bigger than all of us. We have to go out there and win, not just for ourselves, not for this coaching staff, not for this organization, but for everyone in the state of Minnesota — they deserve this moment.”
Towns is known for speaking those types of words — the ones that fill the hearts of fans with emotion — and the sentiments seem to come from a good place. But talk is cheap this time of year. How he responds to the moment Wednesday will speak volumes.
Ending the drought has likely proven more challenging than Towns expected when he was drafted by the Wolves in 2015.
Minnesota was expected to contend for a playoff spot last season but wasn’t close. The Wolves looked to be a playoff lock this season after acquiring the likes of Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson and Jamal Crawford in the offseason, yet even with 46 wins next to their name, a 47th will be required to end this franchise’s nightmare.
“No one wants us to be in the playoffs, the universe seems to not want us to be in the playoffs,” Towns quipped. “Nothing has ever came easy for Minnesota. It’s only right that it comes down to one game, and it means the most to us and to this franchise in the long run. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be fun, and if it was easy, it wouldn’t be the Minnesota way.”