Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns becomes a top cat with his lifelong favorite team
Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns speaks to the media after practice at the MSG Training Center on Friday. Credit: Howard Simmons
GREENBURGH — Karl-Anthony Towns has checked most of the boxes in his 11 NBA seasons.
Rookie of the Year? That happened in May 2016, 11 months after he was drafted No. 1 overall by the Timberwolves in 2015.
All-Star Games? He’s played in six, including the last two seasons representing the Knicks.
All-NBA? Towns has collected three of those, earning third-team honors in 2018, 2022 and 2025.
The big contract? The 7-footer signed that, too, inking a four-year, $220.4 million extension with Minnesota in July 2022.
One big thing was missing: a trip to the NBA Finals.
Towns’ previous two seasons ended on the brink of a Finals appearance, as his Timberwolves lost in the 2024 Western Conference Finals and his Knicks did the same in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals. Now Towns, 30, will get his long-awaited chance to compete on the NBA’s brightest stage starting Wednesday night with Game 1 in either Oklahoma City or San Antonio.
“It means a lot,” he said after Friday’s practice. “To finally, like I said after [Monday’s] game, get over that hump. Being in the conference finals is a huge accomplishment, but really, we all know what we’re all looking for is the opportunity to play in the NBA Finals. As a competitor, as an athlete, you [try] to give yourself a chance every single year.
“The last three years I have, but finally this year I was able to, in the third year, get over that hump and give myself a chance to see what I can do.”
Throughout the Knicks’ dominant postseason run, Towns has found success not only as a scorer but as a distributor. He’s averaging 5.9 assists this postseason, significantly more than his 3.0 average in the regular season, his 1.3 average last postseason and his 3.1 career average. He is doing it as less of a scorer, too, as he’s averaging 16.9 points and 9.9 field-goal attempts in the playoffs, down from 21.4 points and 15.8 shots per game last postseason.
Mike Brown has enjoyed seeing Towns reach the NBA Finals for the first time in his career and has taken note of the manner in which he’s done it.
“It’s awesome because KAT, everybody looks at KAT as a scorer,” Brown said. “ ‘Oh, he can score. He doesn’t do this. He doesn’t do that, but he can score.’ And to make it — especially as an All-Star/leader/one of the guys — this far, you have to bring more to the table.
“And it’s great because he can be able to display to the entire world that he’s more than just a talented scorer.”
Reaching the NBA Finals for the first time would mean a ton for any player. But the magnitude of bringing this specific franchise to this specific height is not lost on Towns, who grew up in New Jersey as a Knicks fan.
“My mom, when she immigrated here, understood the magnitude of Madison Square Garden,” he said. “Madison Square Garden and the Knicks is not just an American top-end sports team, it’s a worldwide brand. And to be part of Knicks history is truly such an honor.”
Towns didn’t go as far as to label the Knicks’ seasons when he was growing up as “misery” even though they made the playoffs only four times in the 13 seasons before he attended the University of Kentucky.
He noted that it was easier to go to New Jersey Nets games and watch players such as Kenyon Martin, Vince Carter and Jason Kidd.
“But my family has always had such respect and love for the Knicks,’’ he said, “and my father having ties to the Knicks, it was just kind of guaranteed I was going to fall into this role of being a Knicks fan growing up.”
One of the most notable Knicks moments of Towns’ lifetime as a Knicks fan was “Linsanity,” the incredible stretch when Jeremy Lin burst onto the scene in winter 2012.
A recent video circulated on social media in which Lin said he was a “big supporter of KAT” and bought three of his jerseys — two for him and one for his godson.
“I truly, though, I want to give a shout-out to Jeremy Lin, because he really made me a Knicks fan and had me at Modell’s going crazy trying to find his jersey,” Towns said. “I have so much love for Jeremy Lin, he’s one of my favorite Knicks of all time, one of my favorite players of all time. He made me so passionate about the Knicks.
“It’s crazy now that I’m in this position, I’m in this chair, talking to you guys as a Knicks player. Derek [Lapinski, the Knicks’ PR director] showed me the other day [a video] of Jeremy Lin on social. For him to even mention me was kind of crazy because the love I have for him and what he’s done for me and my Knicks fandom is second to none.”
With four more wins, Knicks fans’ love for Towns and his teammates sldo will be unrivaled.
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
