Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t need the money.
But he has an important standard for his personal card collection – and Yoshinobu Yamamoto didn’t meet the criteria.
“I’m a big Yankee fan,” Towns said. “My collection includes a lot of Yankees.”
Towns auctioned off a one-of-a-kind autographed Yamamoto card for $72,000 on Thursday night, making it the most expensive sale ever for an LA Dodgers pitcher.
Towns, who is making more than $49 million this season as the Knicks power forward, is a card enthusiast with an Instagram account dedicated to hobby called “BigBodegaCards.”
He said the rarest card in his personal collection is a 1933 Lou Gehrig card, worth about $14,000.
And while Towns, a former high school pitcher, enjoys watching Yamamoto, he thought someone else might appreciate the card better.
“I think (Yamamoto’s) world is a player. I love watching him pitch, one of the best in the game, especially as a pitcher growing up. It’s always great when you see the best playing chess with some of the best hitters in the world,” Towns said. “I’m just a Yankee fan. That’s really it. Sometimes someone will appreciate the card more than I do, and I want to make sure that’s how the story went.”
Towns sold the card to an unknown buyer during a Fanatics Collect campaign.
According to The Athletic, the price has nearly doubled from the previous most expensive Yamamoto ticket sales from about a year ago.
Towns was filmed last week unwrapping the signed Yamamoto card and enthusiastically exclaiming, “This happiness is the greatest.”
He said Friday that he also collects “Kaboom” cards and Disney-inspired triple autograph cards.
But Towns, who grew up in Metuchen, N.J., has long expressed his love for the Yankees.
His card collection reflects that – even after drawing an extremely rare Yamamoto card.
On the field, Towns is still adjusting to an unfamiliar role in Mike Brown’s revamped offense.
The 30-year-old All-Star is averaging 21.5 points and 12.8 rebounds in 33.2 minutes while posting career-lows from the field (42.9%) and from beyond the arc (31.7%).
“As I say after almost every game, I want to find different ways to impact this team’s victory,” Towns said Friday after practice and before Saturday’s game against the Magic. “And just keep figuring it all out. We all are. So for my part, I could definitely do a few shots better. But I’ll get to that. Numbers will always work out. So I’m just staying confident. It’s great to get our first road win. That’s what it’s all about. It’s about the wins. So it’s a good start to what we’re trying to accomplish.”
“(The offense) is different. It’s different. I haven’t seen it in my 11 years (in the NBA). But I’m having fun with it. I’m just going to continue to get better and impact the game, like I said, and impact winning and continue to help our team in any way I can.”
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