Today’s NBA has made it easier than ever for star players to pack up and jump ship. James Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Anthony Davis are just a few examples of players who have abandoned their previous teams in search of greener pastures.
As a 2x All-Star and 2018 All-NBA player, Anthony Towns has the opportunity to do the same in Minnesota.
After years of mismanagement and poor performances, it makes sense that Towns would become frustrated with the state of his current situation. It makes sense that he’d want to leave in pursuit of a Championship.
So why does he stay? In a recent chat with The Athletic, the star big man answered that question himself.
Towns likens staying in Minnesota with his decision to continue to play for the Dominican Republic national team. He said he’s had opportunities to leave the Dominicans, his mother’s homeland, and reclassify to play with Team USA, which could use a talented big man. But that would be the easy route in his eyes.
“I like taking the hard route. I like going the more rewarding route,” he said. “I love being with the Dominican Republic national team. There’s a lot of things they haven’t done, and I’m able to possibly change that. The challenge is what I’ve always strived for.”
Towns, 25, is coming off a heartbreaking year for him and his family. His mother was one of several loved ones Towns lost to the pandemic.
There’s no forgetting what he lost, but it seems he’s finally ready to lead the Wolves again.
“I’m just happy where I’m at mentally,” Towns said. “It was rough last year. It almost felt impossible for me to do what I could do. You find a strength in you that you didn’t know you had when you go through certain things.”
With an exciting young core around him and an ocean of new opportunities before him, Karl-Anthony Towns could be in for his best season yet.
After so much failure and heartbreak these past few years, there is nothing Wolves fans want more.
