Karl-Anthony Towns Breaks Down the Knicks’ Historic Championship Run

Karl Anthony Towns is well on his way to a Hall of Fame career. Drafted with the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, he won the 2016 NBA Rookie of the Year award unanimously with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He’s also a six-time NBA All-Star and a three-time All-NBA Third Team selection. But after helping bring the New York Knicks their first championship since 1973, he will forever be immortalized in the “Big Apple.”

​After being traded to the Knicks from the Timberwolves last season, Towns helped lead the Knicks to the promised land. As a native of Piscataway, New Jersey, he is living his wildest basketball dream and will undoubtedly go down in history as a Knicks icon.

​Recently, The Root spoke with Towns during a break from his “shift” at Raising Cane’s in Times Square for the brand’s activation about ending the Knicks championship drought, which of his teammates will be the wildest at the team’s parade, and why New York City is the hoops capital of the world.

​What makes the Knicks’ championship so remarkable is that the squad had to overcome so many obstacles throughout the season en route to one of the most dominant playoff runs of all time. During the first round of the playoffs, the Knicks found themselves down 2-1 to the Atlanta Hawks in the best-of-seven series, and it looked like they were on the brink of elimination.

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After some collective introspection, the Knicks responded with a stellar game to even the series 2-2 and haven’t looked back since. Towns shared that it was at that moment that he believed that the Knicks could really do something special. They would only lose one more game for the entire playoffs.

​“That was the moment that the team came together. We came together as a family,” said Towns. “The most successful teams I’ve been part of have really enjoyed each other’s presence and to see each succeed. We learned to have fun and that it just wasn’t about me, another individual, but the team.”

Town also spoke about how New York City embraced the team and how the Knicks embody the best of NYC with their “never say die attitude.

“I think it’s not just the culture of our team but of  New York City. If you lived here in New York City, you’ve seen a lot of things happen here. So we wanted to continue to stay focused, stay disciplined, and continue to appreciate the moment,” he continued.

​53 years in the making, the Knicks parade is slated for Thursday, with 1 million to more than 3 million people expected to be in attendance. After a week of partying, Towns is excited to officially celebrate with the Knicks faithful. When asked who he would be on the float with and which teammate would be acting the wildest, Town joked that “it could be any one of us.”

“I don’t know,” he laughed. “Honestly, all the guys from the team. We earned this right. We are in this moment, and I can tell you right now that all of us are really living in the moment. We continue to tell each other to be present because we never know what’s in store for us and for the rest of our lives. But what we can say is that at this moment, we’re NBA champions.”

During the ceremony, Towns and his teammates will be gifted with the “Key to the City.” He shared how it felt that the team would be honored in such a major way by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

“To be a player living in this city and being welcomed by the fans showing all the love and welcoming me and my family and this organization embracing us, I already feel like I have the key to the city,” said Towns.

​After the parade, the party keeps going for Towns. He said that he wants to take the Larry O’Brien trophy to the Dominican Republic, the homeland of his late mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, for another celebration. Towns also looks forward to bringing his fiancée, Jordyn Woods, to the island for the first time.

“I’m super excited about and I want to bring the trophy over to D.R.  Jordan’s, actually, never been there, so I want to take care of it so she can experience my culture and my country firsthand,” Towns explained. “But yeah, I gotta find time right now. I really think about some Thursday. We’re still trying to get a break right now.”