From the cold Minneso to the prosperous New York, what did Towns 10 years of youth get?

At two in the morning, the neon lights outside the Madison Garden Arena were still on. Towns had just finished his knee reexamination from the hospital, and the three words "patellitis" on the surgical notice were folded into his pocket. This is his third time in the operating room this year - repairing the ligament of the left hand fingers and cleaning the meniscus on the left knee. Now it is the turn of an old knee injury. But he didn't mention these to the reporter, but only said: "The injury is not important, the result of the competition is the key point. "

These words sound like politeness, but they are a true portrayal of his year. When he was suddenly traded to New York by the Timberwolves in September last year, he was still practicing in the Minnesota Training Hall in the early morning. When changing clothes, he found a scarf from a little fan hanging in the closet - it was the "last Timberwolves training" he made with a 12-year-old girl. When he finished training in the Timberwolves jersey, the plane was already waiting for him to go to New York.

Who would have thought that this 30-year-old center who was sent away by the Timberwolves as "trading chips" went crazy in his first New York season. He attended 72 games in the regular season, averaging 24.4 points, 12.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, and a three-point shooting percentage of 42%; in 18 games in the playoffs, averaging 21.4 points, 11.6 rebounds per game, and reversed the Pacers in 20 points in a single quarter. He said with red eyes after the game: "Today is Mother's Day in the Dominicans. Mom, did you see it?"

But New York doesn't look at the tears, only the results. After losing to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks did two things: fire Thibodeau at the speed of light and put Towns on the trade discussion list.

"Soft "tag is posted again. The defense was named by Halliburton in military training, lack of rebound protection in key battles, and the 35.1% three-point shooting percentage in the playoffs fell 7 percentage points from the regular season... But no one mentioned that he played every minute with injuries in the playoffs, and no one mentioned that he actively practiced low-level competition in order to adapt to Thibodeau's defensive system in the regular season - his number of screenings increased from 2.3 times per game to 3.1 times per game during the Timberwolves, which was not top-notch in the center, but it was already the highest in his career.

No one remembers that in the Timberwolves five years ago, he had torn the meniscus on his left knee and returned after only 42 days of rest; no one remembers that when Edwards was promoted to the core, he took the initiative to play the fourth space position; no one remembers that he had a high school GPA of 3.96, and he could have gone to the Ivy League, but chose Kentucky for basketball.

Now it's New York's turn. According to salary expert BobbyMarks, Towns has three years of contract with 170 million (53.14 million next season, 57.08 million in 26-27 season, 61.02 million in 27-28 season), but he wants to renew his contract with a maximum salary of 260 million in 5 years. The Knicks management felt expensive: "A center that cannot defend a small defender is worth so much?" But they forgot that the Knicks won 51 games in 72 regular season games in Towns; the 8 games he was away from, only three games he won.

"Business is business "Downs understands the sentence "better than anyone else. When the Timberwolves selected him with the No. 1 pick 10 years ago, he said he wanted to "play here until retirement"; when he was traded last year, he only sent a string of ellipsis; now in the face of trading rumors, he posted a photo of Madison Garden on social media, with the caption: "This city, these fans, thank you. The best one is still behind. "

What is the best one? Is it the knee that returns healthy next year? Is it a defense that has finally been recognized? Or is it the determination to prove that you are not a "soft egg"?

An old fan who followed Towns from Minnesota to New York said: "You see, he was still practicing three points before the operation, he squatted lower than anyone else when he signed the autograph for the young fans, and his eyes were shiny when he picked up his mother - how could this be soft? This is to put away all the thorns and put all the energy into his heart. "

New York never leaves weak people, but New York has never lacked stories. Towns' story is only halfway through: the first nine years were "The Timberwolves's Falls", this year was "The Homecominger in New York", and the next chapter will be "The Leader of Big Apple City"? Maybe it doesn't matter anymore. Just like he said: "The outside world's view is no longer important to me. "