Things are going pretty well for Karl-Anthony Towns on the basketball court, as he’s playing the best postseason ball of his career and the Minnesota Timberwolves find themselves with a 2-0 series lead on the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals. And before Game 3 happens on Friday night, Towns is being recognized for his work off the court, as the Wolves start was named as the NBA’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion.
Towns was announced as the winner on Thursday, joining Carmelo Anthony, Reggie Bullock, and Stephen Curry as those who have taken home the award since its inception ahead of the 2020-21 campaign. His candidacy for the award revolved around his work around voting rights, mass incarceration, and education — you can read more about his work in these various fields right here.
A board member for the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition, this is not the first time that Towns has been nominated for this honor, as he previously was a finalist in 2021-22. As a result of his win, the NBA will make a donation of $100,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities on behalf of the Timberwolves big man.
Towns was one of five players who were announced as finalists for this year’s Social Justice Champion award. He beat out Miami’s Bam Adebayo, New Orleans’ CJ McCollum, Oklahoma City’s Lindy Waters III and Los Angeles’ Russell Westbrook.