Jimmy Butler, Karl-Anthony Towns selected as Timberwolves' first all-stars since 2014

Despite his sensational individual statistics last season, Towns missed the all-star game and wasn't named All-NBA.

"The way this usually works is ... you have to win," Thibodeau said at the end of last season. "I know people look at things and they may say, 'Well, those are stats on a losing team or empty stats,' and that's why it's so important to win."

How right he was.

Towns was announced as a Western Conference all-star on Tuesday night, Jan. 23, marking his first-career selection. Joining him is Wolves do-everything wing Jimmy Butler, who was selected to the all-star game for the fourth year in a row. Butler was chosen for the Eastern Conference team each of the previous three years while he played for Chicago.

Butler and Towns are the Wolves' first all-star selections since the 2013-14 season, when Kevin Love was selected in his final season in Minnesota. Their selections mark the first time the Wolves have two all-stars in the same season since 2004, when Kevin Garnett and Sam Cassell were selected. Now the question is: Will Butler and Towns be on the same team? That will be decided Thursday, when the results of the first all-star draft are revealed.

Steph Curry and LeBron James, the two highest vote-getters in each respective conference, will draft their teams from the pool of selected all-stars, meaning Towns and Butler could theoretically be on opposite sides

It's no surprise that Butler is heading to another all-star game, which takes place Feb. 18 in Los Angeles. After a slow statistical start to the season, Butler started carrying the Wolves to wins. He's currently averaging 21.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, five assists and two steals — a stat line only Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook has matched this season.

Butler has thrown himself into the MVP conversation this season. He is fourth in the NBA in ESPN's real plus-minus, a stat that measures a player's "estimated on-court impact on team performance," and is the single greatest reason the Wolves have as many wins through 49 games (31) as they had all of last season. Minnesota currently holds the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

Towns' statistics have been equally impressive. He is one of only two players currently averaging 20 points, 12 rebounds and 1.5 blocks a game, the other being New Orleans' DeMarcus Cousins. Still, Towns' numbers were about the same, if not slightly better, at this time last year, and he wasn't selected for the all-star game then, and it seems to be more difficult for a player to earn his first all-star selection than all the subsequent ones.

But Towns has improved defensively this year and, as Thibodeau has noted on various occasions, impacted the Wolves' winning. Towns is currently 11th in the NBA in real plus-minus.

You can bet the individual honor means something to Towns. After the center was the first player left off the All-NBA teams last year, he sent a Snapchat saying, "Being disrespected is nothing new to me."

In training camp, Towns was asked how all the Wolves losses through his first two pro seasons had impacted his career.

"I guess, for my career, zero all-stars, zero All-NBA selections, disrespected by many," he said. "Yeah, that's what happens when you don't win."

And, when you win, you get moments like Tuesday.

COMPLETE ALL-STAR SELECTIONS

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Starters: Steph Curry, James Harden, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Kevin Durant

Reserves: Karl-Anthony Towns, Jimmy Butler, Damian Lillard, Russell Westbrook, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, LaMarcus Aldridge

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Starters: LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kyrie Irving, Joel Embiid, DeMar DeRozen

Reserves: Kyle Lowry, Bradley Beal, Victor Oladipo, John Wall, Kristaps Porzingis, Kevin Love, Al Horford