ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Williams is a huge fan of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl Anthony Towns.
Williams was the second overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls and ACC Rookie of the Year while playing for Duke University.Before leading the Blue Devils to a 2001 NCAA National Championship under head coach Mike Krzyzewski, Williams was a student athlete at St. Joseph’s High School in Metuchen, New Jersey, Towns alma mater.
“There are a lot of peeps that you see when you’re going through TV and you’re like ‘alright that guy needs my lending hand.’ KAT never needed me,” Williams told me.
The NBA’s reigning Rookie of The Year, Towns is a special player because he’s a modern big man that has a solid back to the basket game, a consistent face-up game, a 3-point shot and slick dribble too.
All of that is cool, but what impresses Jay Williams the most is Towns’ maturity at 20 years old. “The way he handles himself, the way he speaks, the way he thinks through the game, the way he acts off the court, he doesn’t act like a teenager, like he acts like a grown man and that’s how he should act. I’m proud as hell of him. I don’t think there’s a lot of young dudes in the league that have all of their head together and KAT definitely does so.”
Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves are a young team on the rise with players like Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Ricky Rubio and Shabazz Muhammad gracing that roster alongside Towns.
Towns credited Williams especially during his NBA Draft process in 2015 for helping him stay focused.
During last season, Towns leaned on now-retired forward Kevin Garnett for his guidance in getting acclimated to the NBA. “He continuously told me to be patient,” Towns told me. “Being patient on the court, everything will begin to slow down. I mean, just how to be a professional, how to be a professional in this game on and off the court. Just to do my best to lead, and that’s the biggest thing.”
As for Jay Williams, his book, Life Is Not an Accident: A Memoir of Reinvention is worth a read. The book highlights his NBA career and the terrible head-on motorcycle accident that severely damaged himself and ended his career. “I know where that lifestyle can take you,” he said. “The glitz and the fame and all of that, it’s addictive. “You know, you want more of it. The only thing I’m worried about is my bank account and the kind of legacy that I leave with my family. If I can take care of those two things, I’m a happy man.”
Check Out Jay Williams On The Breakfast Club
A former Chicago Bull, Williams still keeps his eyes on his former team and the offseason additions of Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade. “Don’t know how I feel about Rajon Rondo,” he said. “I think that he’s a brilliant point guard. Everything that I’ve heard or seen says that there have been difficulties with him in the locker room. I love that D-Wade came home. I still don’t see nobody beating Cleveland though, no matter what they do.”
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