Karl-Anthony Towns watched rookie Josh Okogie take a hard spill from his seat on the bench during the Minnesota Timberwolves' first preseason game against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, helping himself up and dusting himself off before rejoining his teammates on the court. Earlier in his career, Towns would have remained quiet, but he was no longer silent, ripping into the players on the floor who didn't help Okogie up.
“That’s not acceptable,” Towns said during a team practice in Santa Monica two days later, according to Zach Harper of The Athletic. “Especially in the culture we’re trying to build. We have to establish something great. If we want to be great, we have to establish something great in every single moment.”
Towns was shown the trust of the organization and a deep commitment to him in the form of a five-year, $190 million deal in late September, a move that would require his evolution as a player and as a leader.
“I’m just trying to do whatever it takes to win,” Towns explained. “The game will come to us. Let the game tell you what you need to do to get the W.”
Head coach Tom Thibodeau has seen great leaders during his expansive time in the league, but knows it's a quality that is slowly forged for those who don't come naturally with it.
“It comes with time,” Thibodeau explained about young guys maturing into leaders. “I think the most important thing is you don’t want any one or two guys to do all the leading. You want a team of leaders. The best type of leadership you can have is doing the right things each and every day.”
It was due to that reason that Thibodeau assembled his old squad with Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, Derrick Rose, and now Luol Deng — all proven to have leadership qualities at some point in their careers. With Butler, the alpha dog, now likely out of the picture after his trade request, it's time for Towns to step up, not only as the team's best player, but as a leader in the locker room.
