Unanimous is all the rage in the NBA these days.
Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns won the 2015-16 Rookie of the Year award, the league announced Monday. This came as no surprise considering the 7-footer's production in his first season after being selected No. 1 overall in the 2015 NBA Draft. Towns led all rookies in scoring (18.3 ppg) and rebounding (10.5 rpg, eighth overall in the NBA) and finished second in blocks (1.68 bpg, 10th in the NBA).
Forget rookies: He was the only player to reach all of those averages this season and one of six to play in all 82 games.
The only question involved whether he would receive all of the first place votes. Towns did, just as Golden State's Stephen Curry did in the 2016 Most Valuable Player voting.
New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis easily outdistanced all other rookies for second place. Nikola Jokic (Denver), Devin Booker (Phoenix) and Jahlil Okafor (Philadelphia) rounded out the top 5.
Towns joined Damian Lillard (2012-13 season), Blake Griffin (2010-11), David Robinson (1989-90) and Ralph Sampson (1983-84) as unanimous winners in the last 32 years. He also joined Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins as the first back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners in 42 years.
Nine first-year players received votes this year. Of the eight selected in 2015, all were lottery selections, which is a bit unusual even though in theory the earlier picks were the better prospects.
There is no doubt Towns is not just one of the best prospects, but one of the more interesting players in the league. If anyone puts together a list of which players to start a franchise, there won't be many names ahead of the big man capable of interior points, perimeter prowess and defensive versatility.