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Malika AndrewsESPN
MINNEAPOLIS – Weeks of dramatic dramas in Minnesota ended with Karl-Anthony Towns as the last and only man standing.
More than three hours after the start of the first post-Jimmy Butler training session, in an empty gym, Towns was still shooting.
That day, no far-reaching statement that he was in charge was made. But his presence in the gym sent the following message: all that awaits the Timberwolves starts with him.
In a moment of silence in the locker room before Wednesday's game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Towns took off his black and red headphones to explain that he was pleased to have the weight of a team on his broad shoulders. His task, he said, is to help the team get back to having fun.
"All the teams I was successful with were the ones everyone loved and enjoyed," Towns told ESPN. "Things that seem tiny – joke, laugh, converse, all those things that look childish – that's what builds camaraderie."
The air of the locker rooms became clearer since Butler's locker was cleaned and replaced by Luol Deng's nameplate. Towns, described by his teammates as clumsy, has started making jokes after the match.
This is not a clean break, though; The crowd hooted Thibodeau Monday night, letting them know their disgust. But Wednesday night, many jokes that had followed the coach all season were gone. One of the supporters even sits behind the Wolves bench in a homemade "I believe in Tom Thibodeau" t-shirt.
Since Butler moved east this weekend, the Wolves are 2-0, with wins over Brooklyn nets and pelicans. Cities recorded double-doubles in both games, bringing them to eight this season. The team also welcomed three new players: Robert Covington, Dario Saric and Jerryd Bayless.
Towns has offered his new teammates winter coats.
"I'm just trying to introduce a different culture to Minnesota," Towns said.
The Timberwolves pushed their chips into this very long center in September, when they signed it for a five-year contract worth $ 190 million. Although Thibodeau maintained that he needed a list of leaders and not an alpha, successful institutions are rarely led by a committee. With super-max money and the first choice of pedigree, the tacit leader accusation.
"Every time you sign this type of contract and you're part of a team that is built around you, you have to bring it on," teammate Anthony Tolliver told Towns. "It's our best player, people wait for it every night, they expect it to be 30 and 20. It's a lot of pressure, but it's part of it. "
Understanding cities, is knowing this: publicly, he will almost always be a diplomat. When asked to explain on his statement to be "just an element of this team" that is not more important than anyone else, Towns explained that no Michael Jordan player at LeBron James can not win without help.
"I think you'll see another Karl-Anthony Towns," said Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry. "It frees him from becoming what he is and playing as he plays, obviously it was a difficult situation."
Indeed, pelicans saw another city. He scored 20 of his 25 points against New Orleans in the first period and started the break with 20 points and 10 rebounds. It was the fifth time in his career that Towns had totaled more than 20 points and more than 10 rebounds in a match and the first of this type for him this season. The team also finished with 22 assists – its maximum since 2002.
While Towns' second-half production was stifled by his five personal fouls, he managed an end-to-end sequence of scoring ends by blocking a Anthony Davis spreads his glass. Taking off in the other direction, he fed a cutter Andrew Wiggins for a thunderclap that brought Target Center to his feet.
At the end of the night, the crowd chanted: "Who needs Butler?"
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