It’s official, Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns has been named the NBA Rookie of the Year for the 2015-16 season, and he won it in dominating fashion.
Towns received 130 first-place votes. In other words, he got them all to become just the fifth player in NBA history to win the award by unanimous decision.
Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns goes from No. 1 overall pick to unanimous NBA Rookie of the Year!https://t.co/PJuylM0TPt
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 16, 2016
Minnesota @Timberwolves Forward @KarlTowns named UNANIMOUS @Kia NBA Rookie of the Year! #KiaROY pic.twitter.com/RyOf48K8Ek
— NBA (@NBA) May 16, 2016
Towns was a monster as a rookie, playing in all 82 games while averaging 18.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. All of that while shooting 54.3 percent from the floor and 34.1 percent on 3-pointers.
Towns won the Western Conference Rookie of the Month in every month (six times), joining an elite list of players to accomplish the feat:
- Damian Lillard
- Blake Griffin
- Chris Paul
- Carmelo Anthony
- LeBron James
- Tim Duncan
- David Robinson
Lillard, Griffin, Robinson and Ralph Sampson were the only players to win the Rookie of the Year award unanimously before Towns joining the group today.
Andrew Wiggins won the award last season with 110 of 130 first-place votes. He was the first Timberwolf in franchise history to win the award.
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) May 15, 2016
