NBA athletes are often asked what sport they would play other than basketball. For Minnesota Timberwolves Rookie of the Year center Karl-Anthony Towns, perhaps that sport should be baseball.
Last week, Towns participated in the John Calipari “Coach Cal” Celebrity Softball Game and home run derby in Lexington, according to CBS Sports.
The event was held at the ballpark of the Lexington Legends, a single A minor league affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Coach Cal and company raised $250,000 for the American Red Cross in their effort to help the state of Louisiana recover from recent flooding.
Towns won the home run derby in three rounds. The 2015 first overall pick was a baseball player in his younger days. Towns played for his New Jersey hometown Piscataway Little League Orioles as a fifth grader in 2008, according to LittleLeague.org. His Little League coach remembers Towns wearing size 13 shoes and standing as tall as an adult despite being only 12 years old.
His height later worked to his advantage as a heat-throwing high school pitcher, according to the Asbury Park Press.
Lucky for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Towns turned his balls and strikes on the diamond into blocks and steals in the paint.
Brad Omland is a basketball writer for Howlin’ T-wolf. Follow him on Twitter for Minnesota sports updates and commentary: @bradradio.
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