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Jamal Collier, ESPNDec 19, 2024, 02:20 PM ET
MINNEAPOLIS — Karl-Anthony Towns said he got a “warm feeling” entering the Target Center again Thursday morning, but that still didn’t mask how strange it was for him to be entering the arena he called home for nine seasons as a visiting player for the first time.
Towns will play his first game in Minnesota as a member of the New York Knicks on Thursday night, his first game against the Timberwolves since he was traded days before the start of training camp in September.
“I know it’s going to be a lot,” Towns said with a laugh as he considered the emotions of the game later that evening. “But just appreciate every second, every moment and appreciate being back here.”
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Towns, who was selected No. 1 overall by the Wolves in the 2015 NBA draft, said he still feels a strong connection to Minnesota, which includes keeping tabs on his former teammates from afar.
“I’m an avid Timberwolves fan, so I watch a lot of the games when I get a chance,” Towns said. “They’re still my brothers. They’re still my guys. Just because a trade happened, doesn’t mean I lost love for them. The brotherhood is always going to be there.”
The Wolves and Knicks pulled off a blockbuster trade the weekend before the start of training camp, sending Towns to New York in exchange for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. The trade was a shock for Towns, who had spent his entire career in Minnesota, and especially with the Wolves fresh off an appearance in the Western Conference finals.
“I’m not used to landing and going to a hotel in Minnesota,” Towns said. “I don’t know, that has never happened since the day I got drafted.”
Towns said he did end up spending the night in his home in Minnesota before the game, and thought multiple times how strange it would be to come through the visiting tunnel before the game.
Towns rattled some of his most impactful memories in a Wolves jersey, getting to play with Kevin Garnett during his rookie season, watching Derrick Rose drop 50 points in 2018 and Minnesota’s victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of the 2024 playoffs, which sent the Wolves to the conference finals for only the second time in franchise history.
And when Towns was asked whether he missed Minnesota, he didn’t skip a beat.
“Of course,” he said emphatically. “I was here nine years. That’s a long time I had called this place home.”
On the court, Towns has settled into a groove with his new squad, averaging 24.8 points and a league-leading 13.9 rebounds on 53% shooting, matching a career high, while shooting 44% from 3, which would set a new career-high shooting from deep.
The Knicks enter Thursday with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference, and the Wolves have found a groove after a slow start, winning six of their past seven games.
The two teams played a preseason game in New York against each other a few weeks after the trade, but Towns said that wouldn’t make Thursday’s game any easier emotionally. He repeated that he wanted to savor the moment Thursday and appreciate the memories he built in Minnesota.
“I’ve been through a lot, especially in a T-Wolves jersey,” Towns said. “I’m trying to appreciate these moments that don’t come around ever or often. So I just want to be in place of life where I look at things from a glass half-full. I’m just grateful for the opportunity to be back home and have so many great memories at and to be able to play here against guys I’ve played with.”
