The New York Knicks came one step closer to making their first NBA Finals since 1999 with an impressive win over the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. But when Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns sat down with the Inside the NBA crew after the game, the focus wasn’t on the All-Star center’s 24-point, 13-rebound outing or even New York’s victory. Instead, the TNT cast lasered in on KAT’s feet, which were exposed in open-toed Nike slides.
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Shaquille O’Neal couldn’t help but notice KAT’s pristine feet. After years of mileage on the court, NBA players like Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Shaq himself developed pretty gnarly-looking feet, so The Diesel was impressed that KAT’s toes have yet to curl over themselves.
KAT knows exactly how gross Shaq’s massive feet are after nearly two decades of playing professional basketball. “My toes better than yours, Shaq,” the star big man immediately said back.
Everyone in the vicinity could agree with that statement, but it was Charles Barkley’s voice that broke through the others. “Any day. Everybody’s better than Shaq,” he said.
That wasn’t even the most questionable comment Sir Charles made during the segment. His attention was quickly drawn back to Towns’ feet, and he couldn’t hide how impressed he was. “You the only basketball player I know that got good-looking feet. D*mn,” Chuck added. The crew may have been able to brush over that comment, but Reddit certainly wasn’t.
Redditors called out the Round Mound of Rebound for focusing so much on KAT’s feet, especially considering that it’s usually the Knicks big man who’s known for his more effemininate side. “And people call KAT zesty,” one user commented, pointing out the irony of another player commenting on Towns’ looks.
The five-time All-Star is in a committed relationship to Jordyn Woods, but KAT has also never been afraid to show his daintier demeanor. He’s also been known to manually lower his naturally high-pitched voice. Still, the 29-year-old has never publicly complimented another man’s feet like Barkley did.
“Chuck? Is there something you wanna share with the class?” another user replied, insinuating the Sixers legend may be infatuated by feet.
“Timeout Chuck c’mon now lmao,” a second piled on.
“Chuck mentioned in a show a few years ago that he gets a pedicure every few weeks,” a third added, sharing some context as to why Barkley paid such close attention to KAT’s hygiene.
Considering the work the Knicks still have to do in order to advance, it’s understandable why the crew deviated for a few minutes. But if the Knicks come out victorious in the next game, the focus won’t be on KAT’s feet — it will be on a highly anticipated Game 7 clash between two heated rivals.
