NBA: Preseason-Minnesota Timberwolves at New York Knicks - Source: ImagnKarl-Anthony Towns earns some comparison to Dirk Nowitzki (Photo credits: Imagn)

While big men who can shoot from beyond the arc have become commonplace in the modern NBA, few do it as well as Karl-Anthony Towns. In terms of sweet-shooting big men, Towns is the best in the league right now. It’s a feat that has earned him some comparison to a legendary shooter.

Towns’ shooting ability was discussed on “Gil’s Arena” by former NBA stars Gilbert Arenas, Kenyon Martin, Brandon Jennings and Rashad McCants on Friday. During their conversation, McCants compared Towns to Hall-of-Famer Dirk Nowitzki.

McCants said this controversial opinion, which had his co-hosts disagreeing:

“He’s a black Dirk,” McCants said.

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Martin responded by saying ‘no’ several times over and over. Meanwhile, Jennings also disagreed. Martin and McCants started talking over each other, with the former saying that Nowitzki had a solid post-up game. Martin defended his position by saying that he personally had to guard the German forward during their playing days.

McCants tried to stand up for his opinion by saying that Towns’ jumpers reminded him of Nowitzki. When his co-hosts continued to argue, McCants changed his comparison to LaMarcus Aldridge, but the others still disagreed.

Eventually, McCants gave up as his co-hosts, especially Martin, shut down whatever argument he had.

Similar to Karl-Anthony Towns, Rashad McCants began his professional career with the Minnesota Timberwolves. McCants was selected 14th overall in the 2005 NBA Draft after he helped North Carolina win the ’05 NCAA title.

McCants spent three and a half seasons with the Timberwolves before being traded to the Sacramento Kings in 2009.

Karl-Anthony Towns is the all-time leader for 3-pointers made among centers

Karl-Anthony Towns, who once proclaimed himself to be the greatest shooting big man of all time, has turned the 3-pointer into his most lethal and reliable weapon. His coaches have come to trust his ability to hit shots, giving him the green light from beyond the arc.

In fact, Towns is the all-time leader among centers in shots made from downtown according to Statmuse. In his first nine seasons in the NBA, he has made 975 threes.

As a sign of the times, the top seven players on that list are all currently playing. After Towns is Brook Lopez, Nikola Vucevic, Al Horford, Nikola Jokic, Kelly Olynyk and Myles Turner. The first retired player on the list is Sam Perkins, who comes in at eighth with a total of 533 makes.

Towns is also the all-time leader in 3-point percentage among big men. So far in his career, he has made 39.8% of his shots from downtown. Next on the list is Sam Perkins with 39.1%, followed by Dirk Nowitzki, who made 38.5% of his 3-pointers.

Mehmet Okur comes in at number four with 38.5% and the only other active player in the top five aside from Towns is Al Horford. The 2024 champion has made 38.3% of his 3-point attempts thus far.