The book on Karl-Anthony Towns so far in the NBA has been that he’s a “soft” player. Folks think he’s a guy you can just push around with fear of no real consequences.
Some of that is a bit unfair. Mostly because it has nothing to do with the game of basketball — that’s not even where the perception comes from.
It all stems from what happened with Jimmy Butler years ago in 2017 when he demanded a trade out of Minnesota. The story always goes that he smoked Towns and the Timberwolves starters in practice with a team of third string players.
That infamous practice story is always generally at the root of all the hubbub that surrounds Towns and his “softness” on the court. He’s worn that label for a long time.
He’s also done plenty of work this season to shake that label as the Wolves have gone on their journey to the playoffs for the second time in since 2004.
Bullying KAT doesn’t really work as much anymore. We’ve seen that in moments like these.
They can't bully KAT no more man. pic.twitter.com/eeNmOT0MBd
— Michael Sykes, II (@MikeDSykes) March 24, 2022
And this one, too.
OK, KAT 👀 pic.twitter.com/iIqIcCKb51
— NBA TV (@NBATV) April 4, 2021
However, it’s pretty clear that physicality can still get to him. The Clippers made that clear with the way they guarded him in Thursday night’s play-in game.
The Wolves won, yes. But Karl-Anthony Towns was quite literally taken out of the game. Here’s how they did it:
