Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns believes that the NBA should allow for the use of medical marijuana by its players and backed a similar stance to former commissioner, David Stern.

"I agree with David Stern with marijuana," Towns told ESPN on Tuesday. "You don't have to actually make it 'Mary J' [or] 'Half Baked.' You don't have to do it like that, but you could use the [chemical] properties in it to make a lot of people better. "That's something that Adam Silver has to do. That's out of my control, but maybe legalizing marijuana. Not fully legal where people are chimneys but using [marijuana] as a beneficial factor as an athlete, as a person living daily."

Towns cites the use of medical marijuana by his girlfriend's nephew, who has autism, as one of the reasons why he would back its allowance.

"I've seen nothing but benefits for him," the 22-year-old Edison, N.J., native said. "And I'm very happy that he finds comfort. He finds that normalcy every day. Just like a father, a mother, a parent with a child, you'd do anything for your child."

Towns has yet to bring up the idea with anybody in the league office or the players' association, but doesn't rule out doing it soon.

"We have such a great commissioner in Adam Silver who's willing to listen to opinions and talk to us about how he feels as well," Towns said. "I think David Stern obviously made an intellectual statement from his experience and just seeing things from a different perspective. The NBA has done a great job of just really cracking down on things that should not be legal. Not only legal as a performance enhancing, or whatever case it may be, but just for daily living to have a better life, a more sustainable life, a more healthy life by removing those drugs from the game."