NBA News: Why Karl-Anthony Towns Deserves To Earn All-NBA Selection

The modern-day NBA big man is someone who can shoot threes at a steady rate while also being agile and strong enough to defend opposing big men.

Seven-year veteran Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves has been one of the best big men in the NBA this season and it is about time that he gets an All-NBA nod once again.

Towns was given the honor at the conclusion of the 2017-18 season after putting up 21.3 points on 54.5% shooting from the field (42.1% from three), 12.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.4 blocks in about 36 minutes of action.

Though he was selected to be on the third team, it does not diminish his impact on the court and he could very well be on the team again this season.

Nikola Jokic’s ascension to MVP status has also kept Towns from repeating the feat since that time, but he may have a better case this time around.

With Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis being sidelined for most of the year due to injury, the 26-year-old from Edison, New Jersey could just make the list.

He does have some stiff competition this year as other big men like Jokic and the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid are sure locks for an All-NBA selection.

However, Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz is in danger of not making the list since Towns just has the edge on him based on the stats.

According to Basketball Monster’s player rankings, Jokic and Embiid are the two best centers in the league today, with Towns far and away from the next best big man.

ESPN’s own ranking system agrees with the aforementioned as Jokic is the undisputed No. 1 big then Embiid and Towns.

After it was instituted in 1946, the voting process for the All-NBA Teams was changed in 1956 to select two guards, two forwards, and a center in order to recognize the best players in the league.

Understandably, some great names would feel left out of the list because of the positional constraints, but what it does is allow players in other positions to be recognized for their greatness as well.

Timberwolves fans have felt for the longest time that Towns has not been recognized fairly by those who have the power to vote for All-NBA Teams, and this could have been his motivation to play as great as he has thus far this time around.

Him dropping the first 60-point game of the season is not the end-all, be-all reason for him to be selected to an All-NBA Team, but it could very well be a key reason for it to happen.

Towns has been averaging 24.7 points on 52.7 percent field goal shooting, 9.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.2 blocks in just 33, 34 minutes of action.

Winning the Three-Point Contest at this year’s iteration of All-Star Weekend had him forcibly putting the league on notice as he and the Timberwolves are in prime contention for a possible playoff seed if they make it past the play-in tournament.

Putting him in the First-Team would be a massive disrespect to Jokic and the same will likely be said of Towns if he gets put into the Second-Team because Embiid objectively has the better stats.

A Third-Team selection is the most likely outcome for him this season and though fans tend to discredit some selections because of the first, second and third classification, it cannot be denied that Towns has put in the work to earn his second All-NBA award this year.