For many NBA players, they credit hard work, their coaches and trainers for helping them reach their full potential, and their goals as well. They continue to put in a lot of work, and even spend countless hours inside the gym to further improve their skill sets. However, for Karl-Anthony Towns, he believes a video game is the reason why he is now a better athlete.

The former No. 1 overall pick recently revealed, via Jonny Auping of NYMag.com, that Call of Duty can be credited for taking his motor skills to the next level. He then cited faster reaction and hand-eye coordination, as some of the skills he improved while playing the game.

Karl-Anthony Towns
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“I think that your reaction speed when playing video games, especially at a competitive level, has a true correlation to hand-eye coordination,” Towns said. “The ability to recognize the situation, assess the situation, and react to it in the right way, especially in a game like Call of Duty or these first-person shooters, definitely helps.”

While it’s not the answer expected from Towns, it’s also hard to contest his claim, as he has elevated his game to the next level during his sophomore season last year. From his already impressive averages of 18.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 blocks in his rookie campaign, he surpassed it last season with his production of 25.1 points, 12.3 rebounds 2.7  assists and 1.3 blocks in 37.0 minutes per game.

Karl-Anthony Towns
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Call of Duty may be something not a lot of people thought of as a tool to improve a basketball player’s skills, but one thing that’s certain is that the Minneapolis faithful are definitely not complaining, as their promising center is continuing to show a lot of development in his craft. If he can still take his game to an even higher level this year, they will have the video game to thank, as it will be a huge boost to the Timberwolves’ chances of making a lot of noise in the tough Western Conference.