As part of Gatorade’s ‘Beat the Heat’ program, Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell tried their hands at beach volleyball against professionals.
Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns and now-Brooklyn Nets guard D’Angelo Russell were taken No. 1 and 2 in the 2015 NBA Draft, respectively. Towns has already emerged as a perennial All-NBA caliber talent. Russell, meanwhile, hopes a move from the Los Angeles Lakers to Brooklyn will vault him into that category.
Neither NBA player, however, seems to have that bright of an immediate future as it pertains to beach volleyball.
As part of Gatorade’s “Beat the Heat” program, Olympic silver medalist in beach volleyball April Ross brought Towns and Russell to her court: the sand. She then pitted the Timberwolves and Nets players against Geena Urango and Lauren Fendrick, two other pros (Ross was unable to play due to an injury).
Given Towns and Russell’s height and athletic gifts, you may be thinking that they held their own. That was far from the way things played out, though. To put it mildly, Urango and Fendrick owned the NBA stars in a big way throughout the beach volleyball contest. At the very least, Towns and Russell at least put forth their best effort. They just might not be cut out for playing in the sand it seems:
Gatorade’s “Beat the Heat” program strives to educate and raise awareness for youth, coaches and parents around the United States about the importance of hydration. Particularly during the summer months, hydration is key to reducing the risk of heat-related illnesses. Focusing their efforts in Chicago, Houston, Miami, New York, Los Angeles and Tampa Bay for 2017, they’ll look to further educate and keep America’s youth safe.
Jeff Kearney, Gatorade’s Senior Director of Global Sports Marketing, had this to say on the “Beat the Heat” program, per a press release:
"“Through the Beat the Heat program and with the help of our partners, we are able to educate athletes, parents and coaches about the importance of proper hydration and what safety measures to consider while active in the heat,” Jeff Kearney, Senior Director of Global Sports Marketing. “As a sports culture so focused on statistics, often times we forget how much of an impact hydration has on our performance and therefore those results.”"
Clearly Gatorade is trying to do good things in regards to the “Beat the Heat” program. But it’s also nice that they can have a little fun in the process. Even better is that we get to be in on the fun to a certain degree, watching moments such as this.
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As for the beach volleyball careers of Towns and Russell, they seem to think they could pick it up. Judging from what we saw, though, they may be better off keeping their talents confined to the hardwood.
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