The Minnesota Timberwolves honor the New York Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns before the game

Karl-Anthony Towns’ original NBA employers turned out to be Minnesota nice after the New York Knicks’ long-awaited visit to Target Center.

Ahead of tip-off between the Knicks and the Minnesota Timberwolves, Thursday’s hosts honored the returning Towns with a tribute video commemorating his nine seasons in Minneapolis. Thursday marked the first meeting between the Knicks and Wolves since a late offseason trade sent Towns to Manhattan in exchange for a package headlined by Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle.

The following video, which can be viewed on the Timberwolves’ social media channels herefeatured memorable moments such as his arrival out of Kentucky at the top of the 2015 draft, his 60-point game against San Antonio in March 2022, his triumph in the 3-Point Contest that same year, and of course, his trip to last year’s Western Conference Finals last spring. Towns left Minnesota at or near the top of almost every major statistical category, and he has lived up to every expectation the Knicks placed on him.

After the video was shown on the Target Center’s video boards, Towns was warmly cheered by the Minnesotans gathered for the game as he was introduced with the rest of the Knicks’ starting five.

In addition to celebrating Towns’ accomplishments on the field, the Timberwolves also broadcast a video of his community accomplishments and affairs during one of the early timeouts. That video can be seen here (h/t Timberwolves Clips).

TOws had six rebounds and three points and assists each, but the Timberwolves led the Knicks 33-32 after the first quarter. Randle came through big for the hosts, scoring nearly half of their points with 15.

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