The New York Knicks were eliminated from the playoffs after suffering a 125-108 Game 6 loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Since then, there have been rumors that the franchise could trade center Karl-Anthony Towns after already firing head coach Tom Thibodeau.
With Towns' future hanging in the balance, he fell victim to a wild NSFW rant from Gilbert Arenas, who compared the star center to WNBA players.
During the latest episode of the “Gil's Arena Show,” the former NBA player went off on Karl-Anthony Towns' inability to play defense. While going on his rant, Arenas claimed that the Knicks' star doesn't have the right body to play defense in the NBA. Arenas went as far as to claim that Towns is “built like a girl.”
“Listen, can you just put Karl-Anthony Towns out there so we can just be educated on KAT himself. It's him; it's his physical makeup. Long legs, short torso, big a** feet. There's nothing he can do; he's built like a whole f****** b****. He's built like a female. Am I saying something wrong? He's built like a girl; he has girl hips. He's like a full WNBA player.
"[Karl-Anthony Towns is] built like a whole f*cking b*tch. He's built like a female. Am I saying something wrong? He's built like a girl. He has girl hips. He's like a full WNBA player."
Gilbert Arenas on KAT 😳
(via @GilsArenaShow)pic.twitter.com/DSNJpczL6C
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 4, 2025
The 29-year-old center has been criticized in the past for his struggles on the defensive end, along with how awkward he moves on the court. Even Charles Barkley asked Karl-Anthony Towns point-blank why he makes so many “dumb” fouls. The Knicks' star didn't have an answer but did admit his fouling habits are a problem that needs to be addressed.
Despite that, Towns played a major role in helping the Knicks make it to the Eastern Conference Finals. He proved to be a strong No. 2 option behind point guard Jalen Brunson. Karl-Anthony Towns averaged 21.4 points and 11.6 rebounds per game in the playoffs. He also shot 48.8% from the field and was 35.1% from three-point range.
But his defensive skills are still a question mark, and that's what Gilbert Arenas was going off about. The former point guard toned it down a tad to further explain what he meant when discussing Karl-Anthony Towns' body.
“He's built bad; he's not built to play. He can't play pick and roll defense; he doesn't have the body to do it. He's built bad; he's not athletic; he can't move left to right; he can't move up and down; he can't jump; he just has a bad build. It's great for how he plays offense, but we've all played defenders who just can't guard anybody because of how they are built.”