Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the most exciting young players in the league, so talented he's already in the upper echelon of centers in his second year.

Towns can do a little bit of everything. He has tremendous footwork and post moves but can space the floor out to the three-point line. He can grab a board and run the floor himself. He's a talented passer that plays a high IQ style of basketball. 

The NBA has had a shortage of ultra-talented centers, but Towns is the prototype for the space-and-pace NBA big man. Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising, then, that the player he wants to pattern his game after the most isn't your typical big man influencer. 

Towns sat down with Reid Forgrave of CBS Sports for an expansive interview, going into the players that helped mold him into the versatile center he is today.

"I've watched a lot of people. Tim Duncan. Kevin Garnett. Hakeem Olajuwon. Sam Perkins. Len Bias. I've watched a lot of people play. But I'm still finding different ways I can score and make the game easier on myself. I know we're talking bigs, but I'm also a huge, huge fan of Chris Mullin.

"His efficiency, his smoothness, his ability to score. He's so smooth with everything, very efficient, and that's a key I like to have in my game. Doesn't miss many shots. And if I'm correct he leads the NBA all-time in field-goal percentage. Don't waste any possessions," Towns said.

Mullin is an all-time great, but it's rare for a player so young and at his position to have such a high opinion of him. For comparison's sake, Mullins was in his 11th year in the NBA when Towns as born in 1995. 

As for who the greatest center of all-time is, Towns couldn't quite pick a single player. He seems to have narrowed it down to the Big Three of Shaquille O'Neal, Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

"I think what Shaq has done is absolutely absurd, what the league has never seen before. I think Kareem, what he was able to do in the league was otherworldly. Obviously for me I always put Bill Russell up there, because he has the most rings.

"I want rings. That's most important to me. I count championships to mean a lot. I don't know, though. There's so many bigs who've blessed this game with their presence. I'm just hoping at the end of my career I can say the same thing," Towns said. 

Not only is he incredibly talented, he's got a great head on his shoulders and has clearly studied and respects the many greats that came before him. His future is one of the brightest in the NBA.