Heat Legend Compares Karl-Anthony Towns’ Struggles With Jalen Brunson to His Own With LeBron James

Since arriving in New York in 2024, Karl-Anthony Towns has looked reinvigorated, flashing the same offensive brilliance that made him a superstar in Minnesota. He played a crucial part in helping the Knicks reach the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago.

It certainly helps that Towns plays alongside Jalen Brunson, one of the most dynamic scorers in the league. The issue is that it does not click every night.

Towns will follow up a dominant 30-point outing with a performance in which he fades into the background and struggles to assert himself offensively. Part of that inconsistency comes from the fact that he is still figuring out how to mesh with Brunson’s ball-dominant style.

The 30-year-old big man has been criticized the most for this inconsistency. One person who can relate to this is Udonis Haslem. The Miami Heat icon recalled during the Knicks-Pistons pregame how his role changed when LeBron James joined the team in 2010.

“As I look at KAT right now, it reminds me of myself and the impact of when you have a great player and the offense changes. When LeBron came, and the offense changed, I struggled to find my place. Am I in the right spot? Am I doing this right? Am I in his way? Am I in this person’s way?” said Haslem.

“This is the thing KAT is struggling with right now,” he reiterated.

The Knicks are going to need Towns to be on his A-game when the playoffs arrive. Opponents like Detroit or Boston will not be easy matchups. Add in the fact that he is shooting less, and it becomes clear why it has been difficult for Towns to find a rhythm.

The good news is that the forward still has time to find his footing. If it does not happen this year, Haslem believes it will happen in the future.

“I think as he figures these things out and becomes more definitive about what he is going to do offensively, that helps him,” he added.

Udonis Haslem says KAT trying to find his role playing with Brunson, reminds him of himself when LeBron came to Miami

“As I look at KAT right now, it reminds me of myself and the impact of when you have a great player and the offense changes. When LeBron came and the offense… pic.twitter.com/ffjO5LdQ4A

— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) February 20, 2026

What makes this stretch of Towns’ career so fascinating is that it is less about talent and more about identity. Towns has already proven he can be a No. 1 option, but in New York, he does not need to be that every night. The 30-year-old needs to be the pressure release valve, the matchup nightmare who swings a playoff game when defenses load up on Brunson.

That is a different kind of stardom, and it requires patience, trust, and a bit of ego management. If he leans into that evolution instead of fighting it, the Knicks can not just be competitive, but also become legitimately scary. And if that switch flips at the right time, nobody will remember the inconsistent nights in January.

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

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