When Karl-Anthony Towns declared himself the “greatest big man shooter of all time”, he received a lot of flak for it. One of the most common pushbacks he received was associated with Dirk Nowitzki, who is usually regarded as the greatest big man shooter in the league.
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Nowitzki has the resume to back it up as well. However, Towns disagrees.
KAT’s appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay saw the NFL veteran bringing up this topic once again. Interestingly, instead of revising his stance, the New York Knicks star doubled down on his take. He also detailed why he thinks this way.
Towns said, “You a pro, you know how it is. You’ve got to have ultimate confidence in yourself…I spoke from the heart. I know the hours that I put, the work that I put into my game and I know what the stats say.”
“I just wanted to kind of set in stone what I feel about myself and how I feel what I can do in this league. I’m just gonna continue to prove it every single year.”
KAT acknowledged that athletes like Nowitzki have set the stage for his generation to thrive. But as an elite athlete, he has to back himself every time because only he knows how much effort it takes to be a Karl-Anthony Towns in the league.
Sharpe then asked KAT if he thinks he can beat the Mavericks legend in a three-point contest if the two faced off in their prime.
The 28-year-old responded, “I think I can beat anybody. But I also know that without him, I wouldn’t even be able to sit in this chair saying that.”
Even while bragging about his talent, KAT showed humility and acknowledged Dirk as a pioneer.
Dirk Nowitzki and Karl-Anthony Towns’ shooting percentages
It’s no secret that KAT is one of the best big man shooters in the league. In fact, the statistics show that he has a significant edge above Nowitzki. But that can also be associated with the fact that Dirk played nearly a thousand more games than KAT has played till now in his career.
As per Stat Muse, in 573 games, KAT averages 52.4 % from the floor and 39.8% from the three-point line in the regular season as compared to Dirk’s 47.1% and 38% respectively in 1522 games.
However, their resumes aren’t exactly similar as Dirk has had one of the best careers of any athlete in the NBA. On the other hand, KAT is still looking for his first major accomplishment since winning the ROTY in 2016.
Even though stylistically they’re very similar, KAT doesn’t have a signature move that can be compared to Dirk’s one-legged fadeaway.
