When Karl-Anthony Towns got traded to New York, people had opinions. They always do with the Knicks. Matter of fact, they also always do it when it comes to anything related to KAT.
He’s been called soft, overrated, etc., etc. But Towns quieted the noise and came in with his own read on the situation. “I understood the team that I walked into,” he said during a press event with Raising Cane’s. “I saw what we could be.”
What followed was two years of proving that read right, capped by an NBA Championship that was the exhale that the city of New York needed after holding its breath for the past 53 years.
“What was so special about this, and I didn’t realize until after the win, was how much healing a win would do for all of New York City,” Towns said. “From the fans, to the alumni, and even for us as players and our personal lives. It was a healing experience.”
The moment that got him — and truthfully, most of us — wasn’t the trophy or the celebration. It was that heartful embrace between KAT and Patrick Ewing. Watching the franchise’s most beloved player finally hold the Larry O’Brien Trophy, even if it wasn’t in his own hands, broke a lot of people down in the best way. “To see someone like Pat finally exhale after all of these years, to see Larry O’Brien in his hand, it was emotional,” Towns said. “When he was here, he only wished and imagined he’d be the one to do it.”
Celebrating beside him through all of it has been his fiancée, Jordyn Woods, who has watched this run from a vantage point that most people don’t have access to. The two have built their careers separately, but Woods describes their lives as “intertwined,” which is part of why fans became invested in her during the Knicks’ championship push.
Her now-iconic “lucky bag,” which I can personally say I’ve snagged online for myself, took on a life of its own, drawing attention every time it appeared courtside. That is, of course, the one time the man in office made a change and didn’t let it inside the Garden (it’s important to note that’s the one game they lost to the Spurs).
Watching Towns compete at this level has given Woods her own perspective on what it takes. “He wears it well,” she told EBONY. “I feel like he’s taught me you have to stay ready so you don’t have to get ready. He’s always just super optimistic and positive.”
But he wouldn’t be who he is today without the team that originally took their claim on him. Before any of this was possible, just a few short years ago, there was Minnesota. Towns spent years there becoming who he needed to be, and he’s not shy about saying it.
“In a lot of ways, we’ve got to give thanks to Minnesota. For allowing me to grow and become the player that I am, and the man that I am today,” he said. “For me to have come to New York with the best version of me from Minnesota, and allowing me to impact winning at a high level right away. I am forever grateful that I’m here, and allowing my experience and my IQ and just hearing me out with it, means a lot that the team trusted me and we were able to get this done.”
The trust piece matters more than most people would think, particularly as a player. Championships don’t happen in dysfunction, and Towns credits the locker-room culture and the city itself for keeping the team grounded when things got hard. “It’s not just the culture of our team, but it’s the culture of New York City,” he said. “When you live here, you have to understand you can never quit. A lot of things can happen in a New York minute. The tides can change quickly. For us, we continue to stay focused, stay disciplined, and continue to appreciate.”
He hasn’t slept much since it happened, and rightfully so. Many of us are even seeing it play out on social media with hilarious IG lives from Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby as they celebrate this well-deserved win. “We’ve been moving and shaking, and we’ve been celebrating with our families, so it’s been really fun,” he said, laughing.
Towns, for his part, is already thinking about what’s next. Part of it is basketball. And the other part? Well… he’s got a wedding to plan. When asked whether he and Woods might take a page from Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift and get married at their home arena [Madison Square Garden], it’s not a no, but it wasn’t quite a yes, either.
“I don’t know where they’re having theirs at, but for me, I need to start planning it,” he said. “The only thing I’ve been planning this whole time is an NBA Championship. Part one is done, and now we’ve got to get to part two, which is a wedding.”
New York got its championship. The ring is coming next — and the lucky bag will be somewhere not too far behind.