In a sit-down interview with Hall of Fame broadcaster Ahmad Rashad, Knicks star center Karl-Anthony Towns revealed which team he supported and made sure to watch on television when he was growing up. When asked if he was a Knicks fan as a child, Towns responded honestly.

“I was. I was. I can't say I wasn't. The proof is in the pudding. Everyone knows, yeah, I grew up a Knicks fan. We didn't have much money but we definitely had the MSG network and it was free and I was able to watch Knicks games.”

The full interview is available on the New York Knicks' page on X, formerly  Twitter, and includes discussion about his experience playing for the Dominican Republic national basketball team, his relationship with Boston Celtics veteran Al Horford, his experience playing for head coach Tom Thibodeau, and more.

The Knicks helped this stray KAT find his way home

Nov 10, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) in the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks seemed like they were on a crash course ever since Leon Rose was hired to run the Knicks in 2020. Rumors about one consistently included a mention of the other and in early October, the Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves made the trade that sent Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota in exchange for Towns.

Towns grew up in New Jersey, playing high school basketball at Saint Joseph High School in Metuchen, NJ. Towns made visits to his high school throughout his tenure in Minnesota and had large contingents of family members at games against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. After being traded to the Knicks, Towns was quick to embrace the change and went out of his way to support fan-made merchandise, presumably for some of the family members that showed up for him throughout the years:

Towns just feels like he belongs in a New York Knicks jersey. It's not just the local roots and childhood love for the team that makes me say that. What leads to that feeling is how expressive Towns is on the court, his love for the New York Yankees, his pregame tunnel outfits. You can hear his passion for competition and the game of basketball bleed through the broadcast every time he wails while in pursuit of a rebound or in the midst of trying to finish at the rim.

The Knicks have plenty of things to figure out. They need to get healthy. They need to develop and employ a different strategy to navigate defending pick and rolls. The process of having Karl-Anthony Towns at center in drop coverage has led to consistently poor results. Thus far, this has been a factor in the team's defensive woes. New York's team is full of talented players that need to play more NBA games together to understand what they can do to help each other be the best version of themselves possible by the end of the season.

But, even at 4-5, the Knicks' effort to bring the rest of their roster up to speed with Jalen Brunson's historic production last season is nowhere close to a failure. The stat is cherry-picked more intensely than a LaMelo Ball Chino Hills highlight but, to some degree, it is worth noting that Towns is the first player in NBA history to have 220+ points, 110+ rebounds, and 20+ 3-pointers made in the first nine games of a season while shooting at least 40% from behind the arc.

Towns has been a massive part of New York's successes so far in the 2024-25 NBA season. And if the Knicks get this thing going before it's too late, he's likely going to be a massive part of those successes too.