all-star outreach

Three-time All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns is proving to be one of the biggest LGBTQ+ allies in the NBA

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When the Minnesota Timberwolves held their annual Pride Night this past weekend, Karl-Anthony Towns was far from a passive bystander.

The NBA star personally welcomed fans to the Target Center for the evening’s colorful festivities!

In addition, Towns invited Twin Cities Pride executive director Andi Otto and his family to the game. Otto told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune about the significance of Towns’ gesture.

“The community doesn’t see a lot of athletes who stand up and are welcoming to the community, so to have him express how important it is, it’s amazing,” he told reporter Chris Hine.

“Those are things that these two kids will never forget and I can talk about to the community, and the community is not always positive toward the Timberwolves, but we’re getting there, and things like that mean the world.”

With his last sentence, Otto is probably referencing a couple of anti-LGBTQ+ incidents from last season. Most notably, NBA All-Star Anthony Edwards used homophobic language on social media, and only incurred a $40,000 fine.

A few months later, center Rudy Gobert “liked” a tweet from Elon Musk mocking pronoun use.

Towns’ strong support for the LGBTQ+ community represents a nice antidote to those episodes. On the issue of gay rights, it’s apparent where he stands.

With us!

Hine, who’s also gay, posted Otto’s kind words on social media.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Towns is a three-time All-Star and one of the most fearsome big men in the league. He’s putting up another spectacular campaign, averaging 21.7 points per game with 8.9 rebounds for the West-leading Timberwolves.

The man’s athleticism is unreal.

Overall, the T-Wolves’ Pride Night seemed to be a huge success… outside of an ill-timed Chick-Fil-A promotion, which was a little, um, awkward.

Hey, we can’t all be perfect, right?

As one of the Minnesota’s best players, Towns’ pro-LGBTQ+ words carry a lot of weight, especially for young queer basketball fans.

“I think about what that impact is to them,” said Otto. “Those little kids who want to play a sport, any sport and they see an athlete like that, and it gives them hope that, even though they’re part of the community, they can still play major league sports. It’s monumental to see these athletes come out to say, ‘I support you all and I will stand here proudly next to you.’ That’s amazing.”

One of those little kids found 78 homophobic tweets from 48 NBA players two years ago, and shared his findings with Outsports. Though most of the tweets were from 2009-13, the words are still hurtful, says Derrick Gordon, who publicly came out as gay while playing for UMass Amherst.

“I don’t care how long ago it was, it shows the person’s character, in my opinion,” he said. “It’s a slap in the face to me, to other people in my community. That’s disrespectful. I’m not for people losing their jobs, but words like that can’t be tolerated.”

The NBA has made significant strides on LGBTQ+ inclusion over the years. When Jason Collins publicly came out as gay in 2013, he enjoyed widespread support from the league’s biggest stars, including LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.

Bryant’s support was particularly significant, considering he was once fined $100,000 for yelling a gay slur towards an official.

Over the year, every NBA team has held some sort of Pride or inclusion night.

Still, last season’s incidents involving Edwards and Gobert show there is still work to be done. Having somebody like Towns on the side of inclusion is a big step towards progress.

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