Karl-Anthony Towns passed through Bleacher Report

It was not in the center and in the center, but the imposing presence of Karl-Anthony Towns was unmistakable in a late May demonstration in honor of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Standing alongside former NBA veteran Stephen Jackson and current Timberwolves teammate Josh Okogie, Towns had emerged from one tragedy to face another – that of killing Floyd during the custody of four Minneapolis police.

“He’s obviously in a difficult situation right now, he’s dealing with a lot of things and showing up to something like that shows that it’s not just about himself,” Okogie said. Star Tribune.

The cities, wearing a “Black Lives Matter” hat and a cover, did not speak at the event.

It shouldn’t have been.

That he was there, just a few weeks after his mother, Jacqueline Towns, had died of complications from COVID-19 at the age of 59, she said all she had to say at a time when she saw Towns life turned upside down. in any case a person could be – for the pandemic, the need for social justice and even the (temporary) suspension of his job.

Although Towns wasn’t available to talk about those problems now, he made his thoughts clear about being black in America a few years ago when he wrote a wise for The Players’ Tribune. Writing in the wake of a white nationalist demonstration and a car attack in Charlottesville, Virginia that killed counterprotester Heather Heyer, Towns admitted that he was disappointed but not shocked by the racism he saw in 2017. He also described a Discussion that he and his teammates had had about the shooting death of Philando Castile, killed by a police officer in St. Anthony, Minnesota, a year earlier:

“My teammates from Timberwolves and I talked about Philando after that tragedy and his name came out occasionally in the last season because, with that incident, it looked personal. It was a Twin Cities thing. It struck near home. I don’t remember exactly what we said, but it was a bit like this: We are all sitting there, as minorities in a league that is mostly a minority, and we wonder, if I hadn’t played in the NBA … would it be me? “

Three years later, Jackson echoed those comments by talking about Floyd, who was a longtime friend.

“The only difference between me and George Floyd, the only difference between me and my twin … is the fact that I had more opportunities. … If George had more opportunities, he could have been a professional athlete in two sports, “said Jackson New York Times.

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That annoying, persistent obsession, multiplied by the murder after the murder of young black men by law enforcement, is one of the reasons why NBA players like Towns, like Okogie, like many others in the whole league , are forcibly vocal for the equality and change that follow Floyd’s killing.

Towns tried to capture the call to action in his 2017 essay, writing: “Basketball is what I do for a living, not who I am as a man. So as athletes we have a huge opportunity to support what we think is right. and to talk about what we think is wrong. “

In fact, his parents didn’t raise him to be a spectator. As a teenager, he volunteered for a walkathon to raise money to fight cancer after his grandfather died of the disease, and later volunteered to go to a school for autistic children after being moved to Newtown, Connecticut. , shooting at school. As his mother said to B / R in 2015: “He comes from within … He follows his heart and does what is right because it makes him feel good inside.”

Both Towns’ parents tested positive for COVID-19 last spring. His father, Karl Towns, recovered. The family believed that Jackie would be on the same road when his condition worsened. Even then, while she was to be placed on a fan, Karl-Anthony posted a video in which he urged others to take the pandemic seriously. She died in mid April.

In Minnesota, where Floyd was killed, the basketball season is over. The Timberwolves will not be involved when the NBA meets again in Orlando.

However, franchising is the epicenter of the drive for change and the challenge of inequality. Floyd’s death is another homicide at home.

“You’re looking at him and you’re sick to the stomach as you look at one knee on another man’s neck,” said Ryan Saunders, the Minnesota coach, in a June conference call with reporters. “Then you see … the police car and you recognize the uniforms a familiar aspect and it’s Minneapolis PD. It hurts.”

In response, the Timberwolves have been proactive in listening to their players and their community.

“The pandemic and tragic murder of George Floyd here in Minneapolis has forced our group into really difficult conversations and a meeting,” said Gersson Rosas, president of Minnesota basketball operations and the league’s first Latin to fill that role. “Supporting Karl-Anthony Towns through the death of his mother brought together our group, brought together our community, brought together our league and this brought us together. I am thrilled with what it all means once we are able to get together and work together. “

Rosas added that the organization does not have all the answers right now but will look for them. The franchise recently asked Tru Pettigrew, a motivational speaker and diversity educator, to turn to the team.

“We have a very young group of players who are growing before our eyes, and it says a lot about them,” said Rosas. “It says a lot about their maturity, their emotional IQ, to understand where we are, to understand what’s going on and to understand their responsibility to play their part at a time when we need them. We need them to come forward and guide and show the way, because it is something that is very important for them, and it is very important for us “.

It’s a noble takeaway from a season that started with high expectations for the team before it collapsed, even before the COVID-19 shutdown.

Around last year’s Thanksgiving, I visited Minnesota to write about Timberwolves and cities in particular. The team was about to begin a worthy playoff, and Towns’ burning game was generating some buzz at the start of the MVP.

His interpretation has lengthened the imagination of a great modern’s ability to shoot three agile step-backs like James Harden. He nearly doubled his attempts in three places from a season ago while sinking them with a 41.2 percent clip.

“I’m not a guy who’s looking for media attention and things like that,” Towns then told me. “It is not who I am. I am a boy who alone, I come to work. I love competing … every day and I go home. I am not worried about the whole circle after and during everything. I am here for my team, the people who wear the shirts of the Wolves and all those of this organization who wear the emblem of the Wolves. They are here for them. “

The season was painted immediately after Towns spoke those words, turning away from injuries, losses, a trade that restructured the roster and also brought longtime friend D’Angelo Russell.

Hence, the pandemic, the death of his mother and a source of excruciating pain.

However, despite everything that has happened and continues to happen, Towns is on its feet, showing that it is not only there for those who wear the emblem, as he said a few years ago.

Even without speaking, he is standing for many, many others.

Jonathan Abrams is a senior writer for B / R Mag. A former staff writer in Grantland and sports journalist at New York Times is Los Angeles TimesAbrams is also the best selling author of All pieces count: The Inside Story of The Wire-available right here, right now. Follow him on Twitter, @jpdabrams.

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