It wasn’t front and center, but Karl-Anthony Towns’ imposing presence was unmistakable at a rally in late May honoring George Floyd in Minneapolis. Standing alongside former NBA veteran Stephen Jackson and current Timberwolves teammate Josh Okogie, Towns had emerged from dealing with one tragedy to deal with another, that of the murder of Floyd while in the custody of four police officers. from Minneapolis.
“Obviously he’s in a difficult situation right now, dealing with a lot of things, and coming up with something like this shows that he’s more than just himself,” Okogie told the Stellar Grandstand.
The cities, who wore a “Black Lives Matter” hat and a face cover, did not speak at the rally.
He did not have to.
That he was there just weeks after his mother, Jacqueline Towns, died of COVID-19 complications at age 59, said everything she needed to say at a time that has seen Towns’ life upside down in every way. It could be, due to the pandemic, the need for social justice and even the (temporary) suspension of their work.
Although Towns was not available to discuss those issues now, he made his thoughts on being black in the United States clear a few years ago when he wrote a test for the players’ rostrum. Writing after a white nationalist rally and a car attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, which killed counter-protester Heather Heyer, Towns admitted he was disappointed but not shocked by the racism he saw in 2017. He also described an argument that he and his peers Team members had on the shooting death of Philando Castile, killed by a St. Anthony, Minnesota police officer, a year earlier:
“My Timberwolves teammates and I talked about Philando after that tragedy and his name came up from time to time during the last season, because with that incident, it felt personal. It was a Twin Cities thing. Hit close to home. I don’t remember exactly what we said, but it went something like this: We’re all sitting there as minorities in a league that’s mostly minority, and we were wondering: What if I didn’t play in the NBA? … would that be me? “
Three years later, Jackson echoed those comments when speaking about Floyd, who was a lifelong friend.
“The only difference between me and George Floyd, the only difference between me and my twin brother … is the fact that I had more opportunities … If George had had more opportunities, he could have been a professional athlete in two sports” Jackson said to New York Times.
30 teams, 30 days: The most important story of every NBA team before the return of the league.
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That nagging, nagging nuisance, multiplied by the murder after the murder of young men of color by law enforcement, is one reason NBA players like Towns, like Okogie, like many others throughout the league, they are defending equality and change. Floyd’s death.
Towns attempted 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 great opportunity to support what we believe is right and talk about what we think is wrong. “
In fact, his parents did not raise him to be a spectator. As a teenager, he volunteered for a walk to raise money to fight cancer after his grandfather died of the disease, and later volunteered at a school for children with autism after the school shooting. from Newtown, Connecticut moved him to do it. As his mother told B / R in 2015: “It comes from within … Follow your heart and do what is right because it makes you feel good inside.”
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The TNT family mourns the loss of Jacqueline Towns, the mother of Karl-Anthony, who passed away due to complications from COVID-19. https://t.co/nIXJQ9WzZ5
Both Towns parents tested positive for COVID-19 last spring. Her father Karl Towns recovered. The family believed that Jackie would be on the same path when her condition worsened. Even then, while she had to put it on a fan, Karl-Anthony posted a video urging others to take the pandemic seriously. She died in mid-April.
In Minnesota, where Floyd was killed, the basketball season ended. The Timberwolves will not be involved when the NBA meets again in Orlando.
However, the franchise is at the epicenter of the drive for change and the challenge of inequality. Floyd’s death is another murder at home.
“You’re looking at it and you get sick to your stomach when you see a knee in another man’s neck,” Ryan Saunders, Minnesota coach, said in a conference call with reporters in June. “So you see … the police car and you recognize that the uniforms look familiar to you and it’s the Minneapolis police. That 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 to have really tough conversations and come together,” said Gersson Rosas, president of Minnesota basketball operations and the first Latino in the league to play that role. “Supporting Karl-Anthony Towns through the death of his mother has brought our group together, has brought our community together, has brought our league together, and that has brought us together. I’m excited about what all of that means once we can get together and work together. “
Rosas added that the organization does not have all the answers at this time, but will look for them. The franchise recently asked Tru Pettigrew, a motivational speaker and diversity educator, to address the team.
“We have a very young roster of players that are growing before our eyes, and that says a lot about them,” Rosas said. “It says a lot about their maturity, their emotional IQ, to understand where we are, to understand what is happening and to understand their responsibility to play their part at a time when we need them. We need them to step forward and lead us and show the road, because it is something that is very important to them, and it is very important to us. “
It is a noble conclusion to a season that began with high expectations for the team before it fell even before COVID-19 closed.
Around Thanksgiving last year, I visited Minnesota to write about the Timberwolves and specifically cities. The team got off to a decent playoff start, and Towns’ scorching game was generating an early MVP buzz.
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Habershow with Timberwolves head coach Ryan Saunders to speak, grow up in Minneapolis, and see Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Okogie defend George Floyd. https://t.co/2334nzpVyN https://t.co/oHmkIxPEjD
His performance spread the imagination about the capabilities of a great modern in shooting three steps back as agilely as James Harden. He nearly doubled his three-point attempts from a season ago while sinking them to a 41.2 percent cut.
“I’m not a guy looking for media attention and things like that,” Towns said to me then. “That’s not who I am. I’m a guy who just comes to work. I love to compete … every day and go home. I’m not worried about all the fuss after and during … all of that.” I am here for my team, the people who wear the Wolves’ shirts and everyone who is here in this organization with the emblem of the Wolves. I’m here for them. “
The season fell apart shortly after Towns spoke those words, walking away amid injuries, losses, an exchange that restructured the roster and at the same time brought Towns’ friend D’Angelo Russell.
Then the pandemic, the death of his mother, and a wave of heartbreaking pain.
Still, despite everything that happened and continues to happen, Towns is on his feet, proving that he is not only there for those who wear the emblem, as he said a few years ago.
Even without speaking, he stands for many, many others.
Jonathan Abrams is a senior writer for B / R Mag. A former staff writer in Grantland and sports reporter in the New York Times and Los Angeles TimesAbrams is also the best-selling author of All parts matter: The Wire’s Inside Story-available here and now. Follow him on Twitter @jpdabrams.
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