The NBA announced their monthly awards this afternoon, and the Minnesota Timberwolves continued their complete domination of the Western Conference Rookie of the Month award. After Andrew Wiggins won the award four times last season (October/November, December, January, February), Karl-Anthony Towns has received his first award.
The Timberwolves have now had at least one Rookie of the Month winner in four of the last five seasons (Towns, Wiggins, Gorgui Dieng in March 2014, and Ricky Rubio in January 2012), only being completely shut out in 2012-13 by Damian Lillard of Portland.
While there has been plenty of discussion over Towns' role and minutes, he has looked like a dominant player on several occasions, and he has the potential to be a cornerstone player for the Timberwolves for years to come.
The full statement from the Timberwolves' organization is here, and the press release on Towns and the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month, the Knicks' Kristaps Porzingis, is below. Other monthly award winners were the Warriors' Stephen Curry and the Pacers' Paul George as the respective conferences' players of the month. Congrats, KAT!
Kristaps Porzingis and Karl-Anthony Towns are rookies of the month. Porzingis correctly beats out Jahlil Okafor. pic.twitter.com/W4HUdOFp3C
— Adi Joseph (@AdiJoseph) December 3, 2015
For the details on KAT's KIA NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month honor, check out the release below: pic.twitter.com/QITdt97lPd
— Timberwolves PR (@Twolves_PR) December 3, 2015