The Wolves practiced on Friday to prepare to play the Nuggets. It was a rather eventful day, with Karl-Anthony Towns speaking about being named to the 2019 All-Star Team and Kevin Garnett attending practice while shooting his TNT show Area 21.
Towns is more than deserving of the All-Star spot, and if you ask his teammates and coaches, it comes as no surprise. Towns found out he had been named to the team at a screening of a movie he has a role in, “What Men Want.” His teammates, coaches and family were all there.
“It’s fun to be a part of,” said Interim Head Coach Ryan Saunders. “He deserves it, it’s a great honor, and the fact that his family was right there too and a lot of his teammates and people within the organization, it was awesome that we were all able to share it with him because he deserves it.”
Towns has put up incredible numbers for the Wolves, but he’s also grown exponentially as a leader this season. Being named as to the team is a testament to Towns’ perseverance in what has been a difficult year at times.
“A lot of emotion came out yesterday when I found out, because I felt like I had so much doubt against me and I’d worked so tremendously hard on my body, on my mind, on my spirit, and when I got that moment I felt that… it just felt really special,” said Towns. “I meant it when I said I didn’t care if I made it, that wasn’t my focus, my focus was on the team, but when you hear your name and stuff you go through the experience that got you to this moment and I sure had a lot.”
The fact that he was named by the coaches makes the honor even sweeter for Towns.
“It means a lot to me to be respected by the coaches,” said Towns. “The coaches are the ones who are really calling all the shots so I’m very, very honored. It meant a lot to me.”
Towns also recognizes that these moments are once in a lifetime—nothing is certain in the NBA.
“You never know if you’ll have another chance to be an All-Star. You never know if I’ll have another chance to play NBA basketball. Today could be the last day, years from now could be the last day, no one ever knows. I take every moment very special,” said Towns. “The next moment is not guaranteed, my health is not guaranteed, just got to take it as it is and be very happy with every moment you’re given.”
However, before the All-Star game happens. the Wolves have to figure out how to beat Denver on Saturday. The last time the two teams played at Target Center Denver escaped with a narrow 103-101 victory. This time, the Wolves are committed to getting a different result. A big part of that will be stopping talented center Nikola Jokic, but Denver has talent up and down their roster.
“They have a great team all the way around. They’re very talented. It’s not just going to be one player and it’s not just going to be one player defending,” said Saunders. “But one thing you have to make sure of is that you don’t give [Jokic] a lot of room to be a playmaker. You want to try and put ball pressure on a guy like that, because his talent level is up there.”
In other news, Derrick Rose took contact today and looked good, though he is still day-to-day. Robert Covington is also been doing more shooting but there is still no timetable for his return.