NBA rookie brings imaginary friend to Vegas for Summer League
Some NBA players travel with an entourage. Timberwolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns travels with an imaginary friend.
When the top overall pick in June’s NBA Draft takes the floor today at the Thomas & Mack Center for Minnesota’s NBA Summer League game against No. 2 pick D’Angelo Russell and the Los Angeles Lakers, he’ll be with Karlito — whom he talks to on the court instead of talking back to coaches or referees.
“I’m the voice in @KarlTowns’ head helping him take over the NBA. Can you hear me?” states the bio on Karlito Towns’ Twitter and Instagram accounts, which have more than 12,000 followers.
As he prepared to travel to Las Vegas with Towns on Thursday, Karlito posted on Twitter, “Packing for @nbasummerleague. Can’t forget my @mntimberwolves hat … the @vegas heat is no joke #growtogether #twolves.”
When Towns was at Kentucky, Karlito helped him handle criticism from himself and Wildcats coach John Calipari.
“He’s such a great kid, he doesn’t want to talk back to you, so he turns his head to the side and talks to that little man on his shoulder,” Calipari said. “And after he started doing it, I said, ‘Who are you talking to?’ And I can’t remember which of the coaches gave it the nickname: ‘He’s talking to Karlito.’”
Towns would often turn to Karlito during a game at Kentucky after getting yelled at by Calipari.
“Just some moments? It’s a lot,” Towns said, laughing. “He’s just trying to help me. I know he loves me. He just wants the best for me. He’s looking for a lot out of me. That’s all it is. It’s not about being mean or anything.
“It’s about knowing he loves me so much he wants to make sure I’m doing the best I can possibly do on the court.”
Karlito became a bit of a celebrity at Kentucky. Asked after the Wildcats beat Florida to complete their 31-0 regular season what size T-shirt Karlito wore, Towns said, “Baby small.”
Towns took Karlito, who was in the form of an action figure, with him to the NBA Draft, where Karlito posed for pictures with Calipari, members of Towns’ family and former Kentucky teammate Willie Cauley-Stein.
For Towns’ sake, we can only hope Karlito doesn’t fall in with the wrong crowd during the league’s 11-day run in Las Vegas.