How did you spend your Karl-Anthony Towns day?

The Minnesota Timberwolves certainly take their supermax contracts seriously, don’t they? Not only did the team schedule a press conference to discuss the supermax contract extension for NBA All-Star center and power forward Karl-Anthony Towns, but the Mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota declared that July 22, 2022, was declared Karl-Anthony Towns day.

I’ve proclaimed today @KarlTowns Day in the City of MPLS! We’re so lucky to have KAT’s commitment to our city and community — and that’s solidified through his recent @Timberwolves contract extension. Congrats, KAT! pic.twitter.com/1aI1hBGLua

— Mayor Jacob Frey (@MayorFrey) July 22, 2022

Too much hoopla? I’d cut the city some slack. After all, the Twin Cities love the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Karl-Anthony Towns is the face of the franchise.

He has stayed, sticking it out while the team has reached a playoff crescendo just twice in the past seven seasons. While teammates have come and gone, he has remained, embracing and loving the life in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area as much as the residents have embraced and loved him.

The day commemorated the signing of his supermax contract extension, an extension that if he sees through to the end will make him the longest-tenured player in the history of the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise.  Yes, even longer than Timberwolves legend Kevin Garnett. But you won’t find Towns wanting to play anywhere other than Minnesota:

“I’ve always said this place felt like somewhere I could retire, somewhere I could call home for the rest of my career and play basketball at a high level. It felt like the right thing to do, not only for me and my family but for my basketball career. This is always the place I wanted to win a championship because I like taking the hard road. I like having to earn it. No better place to do it than in Minnesota.” – Towns told The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski after his press conference

And so, the contrast between Karl-Anthony Towns and other NBA stars like Keven Durant or Kyrie Irving is becoming ever more apparent. When the team struggles, Towns digs in his heels and plays harder.

So far, it seems like Durant or Irving are content to pull up their stakes and be traded to greener pastures. Perhaps declaring July 22, 2022, is not hoopla at all. In some regards, it is simply common sense.