Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the greatest ADCs we’ve seen in his position.
But is the big man Timberwolves already the the best?
“Honestly, I wouldn’t have to play like someone else. I am myself, ” Towns said in an interview with Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “I am the greatest shooter of all time. That is a fact. You can view the statistics. I don’t have to play like no one else.
“Everybody tries to see themselves as the second version of me when I am the first. I don’t have to be someone else’s second version. I’m the original already. I don’t have to be one. someone else’s copy.”
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The town has a point. He hasn’t even been a decade since enlisting, but he’s already had 697 3-pointers in his career. According to Stathead, which is the third most popular center ever, behind only Channing Frye (1,049) and Kelly Olynyk (708). Not only that, but Towns has been extremely efficient, beating his 39.7 percent chance so far.
Here is the full list of centers that have averaged one pointer made per game in their career. The towns are all the most affluent and most productive of the bunch with sizable profit margins.
| Places | Player | 3 pm | 3PT% |
|---|---|---|---|
| first | The town of Karl-Anthony | 1.6 | 39.7 |
| 2 | Channing Frye | 1.2 | 38.8 |
| 3 | Kelly Olynyk | 1.2 | 36.6 |
| 4 | Joel Embiid | 1.1 | 33.1 |
| 5 | Pero Antić | 1.0 | 31.4 |
| 6 | Nikola Jokić | 1.0 | 35.0 |
If you separate it from the most prolific singles seasons of the hubs, Towns’ name is once again on the list.
| Places | Player | Season | 3 pm | 3PT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| first | The town of Karl-Anthony | 2019-20 | 3.3 | 41.2 |
| 2 | Nikola Vučević | 2020-21 | 2.5 | 40.0 |
| 3 | The town of Karl-Anthony | 2020-21 | 2.4 | 38.7 |
| 4 | The town of Karl-Anthony | 2021-22 | 2.4 | 42.0 |
| 5 | Brook Lopez | 2018-19 | 2.3 | 36.5 |
| 6 | DeMarcus Cousins | 2017-18 | 2.2 | 35.4 |
| 7 | Channing Frye | 2010-11 | 2.2 | 39.0 |
| 8 | Channing Frye | 2009-10 | 2.1 | 43.9 |
| 9 | Channing Frye | 2013-14 | 2.0 | 37.0 |
| ten | Al Horford | 2020-21 | 2.0 | 36.8 |
Of course, one notable name is missing from that table: Dirk Nowitzki.
The reason Nowitzki didn’t show up was because he spent most of his NBA career playing attacking, not centering. He’s made an average of 1.3 3-pointers per game during his Hall of Fame career, and he connects to them at 38.0%. In total, he hit a total of 1,982 3-point lines, placing 13th on the league’s all-time leaderboard.
In addition, Nowitzki would go on to become one of the greatest mid-range shooters of all time. As ESPN’s Kirk Goldsberry detailed, Nowitzki leads the league in scoring in three of the four mid-range areas – both elbows, plus a right baseline where he picks different teams with his signature one-footed play – in the 2000s. At that time he was the the most effective volume recorder from the left and right baselines in the 2010s, every Goldsberry.
Unsurprisingly, Nowitzki’s 3-point strength and mid-range catapulted him to #1 on Bleacher Report’s ranking of the greatest NBA shooters of all time.
So is the town one of the greatest shooters in NBA history? Sure. But is he? the the greatest? Nowitzki will probably have something to say about that.
