Early life

Towns was born in Piscataway, New Jersey to an African American father Karl Towns, Sr. and a Dominican mother Jacqueline Cruz. He attended Lake Nelson Seventh-Day Adventist School, he then went to Theodore Schor Middle School after transferring in from Our Lady of Fatima School in 2009. At Theodore Schor, he repeated seventh grade in order to gain an extra year of development. Towns's father played basketball for Monmouth University and coached basketball at Piscataway Technical High School, where the precocious Towns practiced with the junior varsity team as a fifth grader.

High school career

As a freshman at St. Joseph High School, Towns led the basketball team to a state championship in 2012, earning himself the top position in the ESPN 25 national ranking of high school players. Towns also led his team to state titles in 2013 and 2014. Towns was selected at the age of 16 to play on the Dominican Republic national basketball team, which represents that nation in international competition. Towns was eligible based on the fact that his mother is from the Dominican Republic. During 2011 and 2012 competitions, John Calipari, head coach at the University of Kentucky and a former NBA head coach, coached the team, which finished third in the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship and fourth place at the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament for Men, falling one position short of qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Basketball Tournament.

In December 2012, Towns announced that he was going to reclassify as a senior and commit to play on the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team under Coach John Calipari, who had coached him as part of the national team of the Dominican Republic. ESPN, which had ranked him as the top prospect in the 2015 recruiting class, listed him as third-ranked in its 2014 class. Towns graduated from high school with a 3.96 GPA on a 4.5 scale. He was named the 2014 Gatorade Player of the Year.

On January 6, 2013, Towns recorded a quadruple-double with 16 points, 17 rebounds, 11 blocks and 11 assists. He recorded a second quadruple-double on January 5, 2014 with 20 points, 14 rebounds, 12 blocks and 10 assists. Towns averaged 20.9 points, 13.4 rebounds and 6.2 blocks per game as a senior.

Name	Home town	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Karl-Anthony Towns C	Metuchen, New Jersey	St. Joseph	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Dec 4, 2012
	Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 4, 2 (C) Rivals: 5 ESPN: 9, 1 (NJ), 3 (C)
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Kentucky 2014 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 4, 2012. "2014 Kentucky Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved December 4, 2012. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 4, 2012. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved December 4, 2012. "2014 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 4, 2012.

College career

In his freshman year, Kentucky used a unique "platoon system" that limited the minutes of each player. Towns subsequently averaged 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in 21.1 minutes per game. Towns was widely projected to be picked as a top selection of the lottery in the 2015 NBA draft. He studied kinesiology in his one year at Kentucky, and hopes to become a doctor after his basketball career. Though he left Kentucky for the NBA, Towns enrolled in online courses, and hopes to earn his degree. He was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press and NABC, and a third-team All-American by Sporting News.

On April 9, 2015, Towns and fellow Kentucky teammates in Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Dakari Johnson, Devin Booker, Trey Lyles and Willie Cauley-Stein, all declared for the 2015 NBA draft.

College statistics

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2014-15	Kentucky	39	39	21.1	.566	.250	.813	6.7	1.1	.5	2.3	10.3

Professional career

Minnesota Timberwolves (2015-present)

Throughout the 2014-15 season, Towns was often ranked behind Duke center Jahlil Okafor as a draft prospect. However, due to strong play in the NCAA Tournament, and a growing consensus that Towns was a better defensive player and had an opportunity to become a better offensive player as well, Towns overtook Okafor in most draft rankings. On June 25, 2015, Towns was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. On July 7, 2015, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Timberwolves and joined the team for the 2015 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, where in five games, he averaged 12.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. He made his debut for the Timberwolves in the team's season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 28, recording 14 points and 12 rebounds as a starter in a 112-111 win. The following game on October 30 against the Denver Nuggets, his 28 points and 14 rebounds propelled the Timberwolves to their first 2-0 start with two wins on the road in team history. Over his first 13 games of the season, Towns averaged 16.0 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Those numbers dropped, however, to 8.4 points and 6.0 rebounds over the next five games. Despite this, on December 3, he was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for November, becoming just the seventh Timberwolves player to win NBA Rookie of the Month honors.

On December 5, Towns responded to his previous poor string of games with his best performance since October 30, recording 27 points and 12 rebounds in a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. Two games later, on December 9, he recorded 26 points and 14 rebounds in a 123-122 overtime win over the Los Angeles Lakers. On January 20, 2016, he had a season-best game with 27 points and career highs of 17 rebounds and six blocks in a 106-94 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. On January 29, he recorded 32 points and 12 rebounds in a loss to the Utah Jazz, becoming the youngest player to have 30 points and 10 rebounds in a game since Kevin Durant did so in 2008. On February 2, he was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for January. He and New York's Kristaps Porziņģis (Eastern Conference) both won all three respective monthly honors to begin the season. On February 10, he scored a career-high 35 points in a 117-112 win over the Toronto Raptors. Three days later, he won the 2016 NBA All-Star Weekend Skills Challenge, becoming the tallest, heaviest, and youngest winner of the event. On February 27, he had a 30-point, 15-rebound game in a 112-110 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. He was subsequently named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for February, joining fellow teammate Andrew Wiggins (November, December 2014, January, February 2015) as the second player in Wolves history to earn NBA Rookie of the Month honors in four consecutive months.

On March 25, Towns grabbed 10 rebounds against the Washington Wizards, setting a Minnesota rookie rebounding record, pushing his season total to 741 and passing Kevin Love's record of 734. On April 7, he recorded his 50th double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds in a 105-97 win over the Sacramento Kings. Four days later, in a loss to the Houston Rockets, Towns passed Christian Laettner for the franchise's rookie scoring record with 1,475 points. In the Timberwolves' season finale on April 13, Towns recorded 28 points and 14 rebounds in a 144-109 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. He played and started in all 82 games for the Timberwolves in 2015-16, averaging 18.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, as he subsequently earned unanimous Rookie of the Year honors. Towns earned Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors in each of the season's six months, becoming the first Timberwolves player to do so. In addition, he became just the fifth unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year, and with teammate Andrew Wiggins winning the award in 2014-15, Minnesota became the first team with back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners since the Buffalo Braves in 1972-73 (Bob McAdoo) and 1973-74 (Ernie DiGregorio), as well as the first team with back-to-back No. 1 draft picks earning Rookie of the Year honors. He also earned NBA All-Rookie First Team honors.

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2015-16	Minnesota	82	82	32.0	.543	.341	.811	10.5	2.0	.7	1.7	18.3
Career		82	82	32.0	.543	.341	.811	10.5	2.0	.7	1.7	18.3

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2015	The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon	Himself	Played in a game with Kevin Spacey called "Phone Booth" (August 14, 2015)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]