Karl-Anthony Towns Named Western Conference Player of the Week

The NBA announced earlier today that Karl-Anthony Towns has been named as the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, Mar. 14 through Sunday, Mar. 20.

As the tweet above states, this is the third time this season and seventh time in his career that Towns has won the weekly award (April 11, 2016, Nov. 20, 2017, Mar. 13, 2017, Oct. 28, 2019, Dec. 20, 2021 and Mar. 7, 2022). Towns currently trails Kevin Garnett (15 times) for the most Player of the Week honors in Minnesota Timberwolves history.

Towns finished the week averaging 38.3 points per game on 59.6% shooting, including 60.0% from three-point range and 92.5% from the free throw line. He additionally averaged 12.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He is the only player in the NBA this season to average 20+ ppg while shooting 50% or better from the field and 40% or better from three. Following the 3-0 week by the Timberwolves, he ranks 13th in the NBA in scoring (24.9 ppg) and tied for 15th in rebounds (9.9 rpg).

In addition to the massive statistical performances, Minnesota’s franchise center has helped lead the Timberwolves to a 42-30 record this season, including a 24-12 record at Target Center after Saturday night’s 138-119 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Minnesota has won 10 of its last 11 games, including having an 11-2 record since the All-Star break, the best stretch in the NBA.

While KAT was the Player of the Week for the Western Conference, Boston Celtics’ star Jayson Tatum took similar honors for the Eastern Conference.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — this is hands down Karl-Anthony Towns’ best season as a professional basketball player, and not only is he producing on the court, but his production is leading to success in the win column and respect/notoriety from the national media. If the rumors are true that All-NBA voters will be able to vote for multiple centers on First Team All-NBA (i.e. Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid), then Towns should be an absolute lock for Second Team All-NBA (or if that somehow doesn’t happen, at least Third Team), which would allow him to cash in on a massive extension later this summer.

But for now, let’s simply enjoy today and celebrate another well-deserved honor for the former first overall pick out of the University of Kentucky. Congratulations, Karl!