This is one of the great stories of this All-Star Weekend 2022. After having had difficult seasons in Minnesota, Karl Anthony TownsZach LaVine and Andrew Wiggins ended up on the same team, namely Team Durant. Almost five years after their separation, following the transfer of Zach LaVine to Chicago, in exchange for Jimmy Butler.
” I remember we were talking about buying our homes in the same place, so we could be in our bubble together, to create that camaraderie and unity that we needed to win the title“, explained KATabout that time.
Precisely, today, only Karl-Anthony Towns is still evolving in Minneapolis, with Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell now as lieutenants, while Andrew Wiggins has left for Golden State.
Proof that the NBA remains a business and that, despite the close ties that united (and still unite) these three players, their youth and inexperience got the better of the patience of Tom Thibodeau, ex-coach/director of Wolves, who wanted win as soon as possible.
Inevitably, five years later, their reunion at the All-Star Game in Cleveland had a special flavor for the former promising triplet from Minnesota. Having become wolves, the ex-cubs have grown up in the meantime, each on their own, and here they are all All-Stars in three different environments.
” It was really cool to be able to be together, on this field, in the same team, knowing where we come from. Nothing happens by chance and it’s sometimes surreal, because it shows that we come from afar “, rejoiced Zach LaVine, while Andrew Wiggins supported the words of his friend. ” It was great. It goes beyond basketball. There is a real brotherhood between us.“
Flip Saunders is on everyone’s mind
A tremendous development, including would have been proud “the late Flip Saunders, according to his son Ryan, who was assistant then coach at Minny, from 2014 to 2021. It must be said that the iconic coach and manager of the Minneapolis franchise, who died in 2015, their “ imagined such a destiny at the time.
” I wish he could be there to see this in person “, thus regretted Zach LaVine. ” He would have been so proud of us “confided Andrew Wiggins. And Karl-Anthony Towns, who wore a ‘Coach Flip’ tribute bracelet all weekend, added: He would probably be telling everyone he was right all along.“
Because Flip Saunders unfortunately never had the privilege of seeing Karl-Anthony Towns play with Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine during his lifetime. A trio he had formed himself, thanks to the 2014 and 2015 Draft, and which was supposed to bring Wolves back to the playoffs.
Except that the man who coached the Western Conference twice at the All-Star Game, in 2004 and 2006, lost his life just three days before the 2015/16 season began…
A real tragedy, for an entire franchise, which somehow allowed this “Big Three” in the making to grow faster than expected and which pushed its members to get closer to each other.
” [À cette époque], we had to grow and get used to the NBA, to all this business, in addition to maturing in our game the first two years. But it was fun to be able to do that all three “, remembered Zach LaVine. ” We leaned on each other a lot. We were 19-20 and we were trying to figure out a lot of things, we were trying to win, we were trying to see what the NBA was all about. It was hard, far from easy every day, but we had good times together added Andrew Wiggins.
What if they had never been separated?
In the company of Tyus Jones, the other youngster from Minnesota, the triplet of ” simple teenagers LaVine/Wiggins/Towns, as Ryan Saunders likes to recall, has therefore started to show its fangs over the weeks, notably competing in the “Rising Stars Challenge” in 2016.
” The harmony seemed perfect between us “, estimated Karl-Anthony Towns, although the regularity and the results were not there. ” Our game plan was excellent. No one had an oversized ego. Each of us brought something and went in the same direction.“
But after a 2015/16 season with 29 wins and a 2016/17 season with 31 wins, the leaders of Minneapolis have decided to explode their trio.
” It wasn’t like before [à partir de là]everything was different “said Karl-Anthony Towns, in reference to the post-transfer of Zach LaVine. ” When you are young, you are told that you are at the base of the project. We were already talking about contracts, pay cuts, that sort of thing, so that things could work out in Minneapolis and that we had a chance to have the maximum talent here. Except it couldn’t be done.“
Leaving the main interested parties with a multitude of questions in mind…
” What could we have become together ? asked Zach LaVine, a bit nostalgic. ” We weren’t that far [d’atteindre notre plein potentiel]. And I always wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t hurt myself [aux ligaments croisés, ndlr]if it played a role [dans notre séparation].“
Today, everyone is more fulfilled
Questions that will unfortunately remain unanswered, because Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, therefore, are now established All-Stars, in franchises that are doing well.
Therefore, it seems difficult to see them teaming up again in the near future, outside of the All-Star Game, as they are all approaching their 27th birthdays. Is the moment from which a player is supposed to know his best years in his career.
” I feel like it works better for everyone, everyone is more successful now “, delivered Andrew Wiggins. ” We’re all on different teams, we’ve taken different paths, and we’ve found more success without each other. A lot of time has passed since the days when we talked about what we intended to do in the next five years. continued Karl-Anthony Towns.
But the best memory that the Zach LaVine – Andrew Wiggins – Karl-Anthony Towns trio can take away from this All-Star Weekend is this photo where we see the three All-Stars posing, side by side.
” We will cherish this moment for a long time, because all three of us wearing the same jersey, at the highest possible level, means a lot “, concluded “KAT”.
And, as Zach LaVine so aptly put it to Ryan Saunders, once the All-Star Game replacements were announced: [Flip] always been right about us…“
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