Minnesota’s Towns wins Rookie of the Year

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns has been voted the NBA’s Rookie of the Year, according to a person with direct knowledge of the award.

He averaged 18.1 points, 10.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks and helped the Timberwolves win 13 more games than they did the previous season.

Towns also played all 82 games and was named Western Conference rookie of the month in all six months the award was handed out.

From the night of the NBA draft all the way to the end of his first season, Towns stood head and shoulders above the rest of his rookie class.

Towns is the second straight Timberwolves player to win the Rookie of the Year award after teammate Andrew Wiggins had a similarly convincing debut.

And while many rookies hit a wall in the middle of the long, grueling NBA regular season, Towns only got better as the season went on.

And Towns would occasionally find one of his Rookie of the Month awards buried in his locker while he was looking for a pair of socks after a game.