The NBA is known for its extremely high level of competition. Reaching the elite of its structures is extremely complicated, but staying there is even more so. Thus, every season, those who proved to be superlative with their respective teams receive the distinction of being included in the All-NBA Team. For a franchise like the Minnesota Timberwolves, the fact that one of their players, like Karl-Anthony Towns, achieves this distinction multiple times is a source of pride.
Founded in 1989, the Timberwolves is a franchise that season after season struggles to be at least an NBA contender. And at least from 1997 to 2004 they did it by qualifying for the playoffs consecutively throughout those years. However, they have only been able to win just one divisional title, precisely in 2004.
This season, the Timberwolves managed to qualify for the Playoffs after finishing in good position in the Wester Conference with a 46-36 record. However, they were eliminated in the first round of this stage after losing their series 4-2 to the Memphis Grizzlies.
The All-NBA Team and the Minnesota Timberwolves players
Few Minnesota players have had the opportunity to be considered for membership in such a distinguished conglomerate. Only five have been honored. However, this group must be divided into those who have achieved it on several occasions and those who have done it only once, at least wearing the Timberwolves jersey.
Those Timberwolves players who have earned the right to be included in the All-NBA Team on only one occasion, regardless of whether it is on the first, second or third team, are Sam Cassell and Jimmy Butler. In the particular case of the latter, he has four nominations distributed among three teams: Chicago Bulls (1), Minnesota Timberwolves (1) and Miami Heat (2).
Thus, Minnesota’s honor roll is composed of a Hall of Famer, Kevin Garnett, who debuted and retired with this team. The power forward made the All-NBA Team 9 times, 8 of them with the Timberwolves and 1 with the Boston Celtics, 4 in the First Team.
The other members of the Timberwolves who have been part of the NBA’s elite multiple times are Kevin Love, who was named to the second team in the 2011-2012 and 2013-2014 campaigns and center Karl-Anthony Towns who also has two nominations, both on the third team, in the 2017-2018 and most recent 2021-20 campaigns.