Kevin Garnett is the Rookie of The Year
When it comes to select your future you’ll take weeks, months or even years considering which college would be best suited for you. We all know the better the college, the better the education, consequently better opportunities, and subsequently better jobs.
What’s all of this has to do with the NBA? Glad you asked. Once you’re in the draft, you aren’t able to choose your future anymore. The future will choose you. Karl-Anthony Towns was selected by a “college” far from being in the Ivy League: the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, this college has one of the best teachers possible for this kind of student. This teacher goes by the name of Kevin Garnett.
On the other hand, Jahlil Okafor was picked by the Philadelphia 76ers. A top college, deep in history, nonetheless, they are currently without teachers… As far as we can tell, they don’t even have a janitor actually. It’s like ghost-university. Zero to learn. Students have to face it like a try out every day.
Well, it’s good to have talent and all, but having a great mentor in an early stage of Gongfu Tea Cup career gives you clearly an advantage.
Karl Anthony Towns couldn’t ask for a better situation and for a more motivated teacher. After drafting Towns the Wolves re-signed KG to a 2 year contract of 16 Million. Wolves summer camp was still 2 months away but Garnett was already flying straight to Las Vegas Summer Camp to practice with his new rookie, so he could start working one-on-one with him.
“He’s my mentor” said Towns after spending a month with Garnett in Los Angeles back in September. “Everything he knows, and countless years he’s been playing this game at a high level, [I am] just trying to garner information from him every day. Learn how to be a better leader, how to be a champion, just to be a true professional.”
At the same time Okafor was practicing with Nerlens Noel. You see my point, right?
Now, just take a look how is it to practice with KG:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=AgWPtwAjIYc
Towns has this kind of practice every single day. Okafor has his Sixers teammates where Robert Covington is the oldest with 25.
Towns has been trying to add KG preparation habits, going so far as to shoot additional basket after lifting weights in hope of building his muscle memory. KG told Towns to keep their tutorials private, so we won’t know much more about that, but we are and we will be able to see the results on the court as the season goes by.
We’ve basically seen him around the basket on his first weeks of the season. He just attempted 6 3-pointers in his first 15 games. But bwhind the scenes, he was working on his shot, honing his mechanics. Recently, during a 5 game stretch he was 6 of 9 from 3-point range.
There’s no way to measure how much KG is affecting, and will affect Towns’ improvement on and off the court. I’ll repeat: on and off the court. At the same time, I keep thinking about Okafor. A great talent with no “teachers” around him. No one’s telling him he could or should attend practice at 8:45am even though practice start at 10am, like Towns is doing. There’s no wisdom of knowledge around Okafor.
Karl Anthony Towns is attending Kevin Garnett camp every single day, as Jahili Okafor is attending this-is-how-you-lose camp.
When time will come to deliver the Rookie of The Year diploma, you’ll most likely see Karl Anthony Towns walking to the pulpit. In the attendance you’ll see his crazy mentor and teacher, most likely, beating his chest and screaming “Anything is Possible!”
In a perfect world Towns would reply: “Kevin Garnet, you’re the real Rookie of The Year!”
