An underappreciated aspect of being a pro athlete is that your entire life can be uprooted at any moment.
Karl-Anthony Towns experienced just that earlier this week when he was traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the New York Knicks. That didn’t stop the big man from exiting Minnesota with a gesture that few would go out of their way to make.
The Athletic‘s Minnesota beat writer Jon Krawczynski shared a story on Dan Barreiro’s local radio show Tuesday that showed just what kind of a class act Towns is.
Krawczynski’s children were huge KAT fans, having met him several times and attending some of his camps during his ten seasons in Minnesota. “I was not worried about breaking the news to anyone besides her,” Krawczynski said of informing his daughter about the trade.
The four-time NBA All-Star learned of his trade to New York last Friday night, and on Saturday morning, after exchanging some texts with Krawczynski, he was in Blaine, Minnesota attending a soccer tournament where the writer’s children were playing.
“There he is. He walks out, he’s with his father and four of his friends, and he watches the game,” he said. “A bunch of other girls from other teams come over, he’s very gracious, he talks to them, takes all the pictures, you know, all that stuff. Talks to my son, tells him he’s proud of him for overcoming the things that he’s overcome. And Anita comes over at the end of the game and she’s shocked that he’s there, and pulls her aside and gives her a big hug, whispers in her ear for a little while. And that just, gesture, was over the top.”
It’s no surprise that after ten years in a city, Towns would have some close connections he’d want to say goodbye to. The fact that he spent part of his last day in Minnesota at a sportswriter’s daughter’s soccer game is surely a testament to his character. But Krawczynski also thinks it may have provided some small sense of closure for Towns.
“I think it helped him feel a little bit of love from everyone, and a little bit of a way to say goodbye on a small scale. But that’s the kind of KAT that I knew,” he said.
While Towns will certainly have to make some adjustments on the court for his new team next season, perhaps his biggest adjustment will be trading his close connections in Minnesota for the hustle and bustle of New York City.
[X/@Kgformvp211, Dan Barreiro]
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.