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Stephen A. Smith Makes Amends to Karl-Anthony Towns’ Father in Minnesota

Published 02/23/2024, 9:24 PM EST

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USA Today via Reuters

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl Anthony-Towns has been a prominent force in the NBA circle for quite some time now. From being named the Rookie of the Year to recently becoming the fourth player in NBA history to record 50 or more points in an All-Star game, the 28-year old’s journey has been one to admire upon. While there were some people who have confidence on the player from the start, other personalities like ESPN sportscaster Stephen A Smith took some time to warm up to the truth.

The tensions between Smith and Anthony Towns have existed for quite some time now. Ever since the player was drafted in 2015, Smith was one of the few people on TV who chose not to provide credit where it was due. With the due course of time, however, the television personality seems to have changed his mind. The example of the same could not be more apparent than what fans witnessed recently.

A few hours ago, Smith was seen arriving in Minnesota to watch the recent game between the Timberwolves and the Milwaukee Bucks. The highlight of the day occurred before the game could even begin, as Smith was seen engaging in a fist bump with Karl Towns, Sr. The small gesture helped provide fans some closure and indicated that tensions may not be that high between Smith and the 4x NBA All-Star player.

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Anthony-Towns’ father has been a prominent supporter of his son for quite some time now. Having played basketball at Monmouth University in his youth and later becoming the coach of a New Jersey High School Basketball Team, Towns Sr is someone whose experience seems to have brushed off into creating a young prodigy. While Towns’ mother may not be a part of this world anymore, he lives well knowing that he has the support of another parent.

Stephen A Smith apologizes to Karl-Anthony Towns for the ‘stupidest prediction’ he ever made in his life

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The tensions between Smith and Anthony-Towns began even before the player was drafted into the NBA in 2015. When highlighting his predictions during that year, the sportscaster reportedly came out to state that Anthony-Towns was not going to be the top pick of the class when the draft came through. The young prodigy, however, chose to defy expectations and ended up being the Number 1 overall pick by the Timberwolves.

The prediction still nags Smith after 9 years, as seen during a recent incident when Towns dropped in for a Q and A session on First Take with the 56-year-old journalist. Smith chose to bring up the topic before everyone could get to the gist of things.

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“Before I ask my question to Karl-Anthony Towns you have a right to know that Karl-Anthony Towns is involved in one of the stupidest predictions I’ve ever made in my life,” said Stephen A Smith. “Because I had questions about him being the number one overall pick. His wonderful family never ever fails to remind me of that back in the day.” Smith gave his apologies to the player’s family by stating, “That’s how far back we go.”

Judging from what fans witnessed recently, fans of Towns and the Timberwolves can rest knowing that all is well and that there will be one less thing to worry about when witnessing the highly awaited game in the next few hours.

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Written by:

Ashmit Kumar

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Ashmit is an NBA Content Analyst at EssentiallySports. Having started as a writer, he specializes in writing captivating stories that include the elements of in-depth coverage of teams, players and more. Due to his knowledge of the technicalities of the sport, Ashmit writes perspective pieces that provide well-researched analysis.
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Edited by:

Vishav