In 2021, Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns said he was the greatest shooting big man ever. Towns had a chance to truly showcase his ability in the 2024 NBA playoffs. His comments are aging rather poorly against the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals, though.
Towns' comments initially upset Mavs fans as Dirk Nowitzki is also in the conversation. Mavericks head coach, and Dirk's former teammate, Jason Kidd was asked about Towns' previous claim before the start of the Mavericks-Timberwolves series.
“Everyone has a right to their opinion, especially now,” Kidd said. “But yeah, he can shoot it. He can definitely shoot it. You look at KAT (Towns), KAT is a very confident young man. He's one of the best bigs in this league. He can shoot the three at a high rate. He can put it on the floor, he can score. So I think he can be one of the top big men (shooters).
“Dirk was one of the first to start that so I think Dirk wold definitely have something to say. But I think Dirk opened the door for a lot of the bigs to become shooters.”
It's fair to say that Towns has not exactly backed up his comments against Dallas. The Timberwolves forward has shot just 13.6 percent from beyond the arc while averaging 7.3 three-point attempts per game. He's also shooting only 27.8 percent from the field.
Could the pressure of battling the team that Dirk Nowitzki, who is one of Towns' biggest rivals for the title of greatest shooting big man of all-time, be getting to him? Or perhaps the Mavericks' defense is simply causing Towns to struggle with his shot.
Either way, Minnesota needs Towns to find his groove soon.
Karl-Anthony Towns struggling vs. Mavericks
Overall, Towns was having a respectable postseason heading into the Mavs series. But he has not looked like the same player against the Mavericks.
Perhaps he should be more aggressive with his drives and try to get to the basket. He's still shooting more than seven three-pointers a game but the shots are not falling at the moment. One could even argue that Towns' continued aggression with his three-point shot has hurt Minnesota.
Now, it needs to be remembered that Towns is a great long-range shooter. I'm not trying to say that he's overrated or anything in that regard. Rather, this is a case of a player's previous comments coming back to haunt him.
Towns could have established himself as a clutch performer while backing up his comments in this series. Instead, his continued struggles have led many to mock his previous claim.
Regardless, the series is not over yet. The Mavs are in the driver's seat and they appear to be motivated to sweep the series. Minnesota is hoping to stay alive by forcing a Game 5 with a Game 4 win.
Anthony Edwards is the Timberwolves best player. Rudy Gobert is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. But Minnesota will need a bounce-back effort from Karl-Anthony Towns if they want to shock the Mavs and come back in the Western Conference Finals.
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