Minneapolis/St. Paul – The NBA today named Minnesota Timberwolves forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns as its Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the month for December. Towns is the second player in Wolves history to earn Kia NBA Rookie of the Month honors in consecutive months, joining Andrew Wiggins (November, December 2014, January, February 2015). 

After taking home Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors for November, Towns led all qualified rookies in scoring (18.6 ppg), rebounding (9.5 rpg), field goal accuracy (55.3%) and minutes played (30.4 mpg) while ranking second in blocked shots (1.56 bpg) and third in free throw percentage (82.8%) in December. The 7-0 center contributed eight point/rebound double-doubles during the month, tops among all rookies and tied for sixth league-wide. Included in that haul were five games with 25+ points and 10+ rebounds; that equals the highest total in a calendar month by any rookie since Tim Duncan posted eight such games in March 1998. Towns also enjoyed a run of 32 consecutive free throws made, beginning Dec. 1 vs. Orlando and ending Dec. 26 vs. Indiana.

The first overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft, Towns paced all scorers with 27 points while adding a game-high 12 rebounds Dec. 5 vs. Portland, and tallied 26 points, a then-season-high 14 rebounds and three blocks in the Dec. 9 win vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. He totaled a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds in the Dec. 20 victory at Brooklyn, and followed up with 25 points, a season-high 16 rebounds and three blocks one night later in Boston. He led all scorers with 24 points (playing a season-best 39:58 and dishing three assists) Dec. 26 vs. Indiana.