Despite not having won a title since 1973, the New York Knicks have one of the most loyal and loud fan bases in the NBA. Last year, Karl Anthony Towns pulled on the white and orange of the Knicks for the very first time, and his image around the league has taken a huge boost since. Now, heading into his second year with the team, he looks back on the moment he truly started feeling at home in the Big Apple.
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The atmosphere at Madison Square Garden is one of the rowdiest in the nation, and players are very vocal about what it means to be a part of such a storied franchise. While talking to Carmelo Anthony — probably the most famous Knick of this century — KAT revealed that New York has its way of welcoming even the oldest veterans with something special.
Quoting Taylor Swift, Towns recalled his ‘Welcome to New York’ moment, which happened last December, when he hit a game-winner over the Toronto Raptors. It involved him shouting some not-so-PG words at the crowd.
“I remember telling my pops about it, it was uh, Toronto. Hitting the game winner in Toronto, looking at the crowd,” he recalled. “Said some explicit stuff to everyone at the time, don’t know.”
Towns didn’t reveal exactly what he said, but one of the hosts paraphrased (very wrongly) and got the former Minnesota Timberwolves man and the crowd laughing. Towns did, however, reveal that he controlled his tongue, as he was afraid of getting fined.
“I wanted to keep my money, so I ain’t say too much, but I thought that was my moment to be able to like have that moment with New York. My Welcome to New York moment type s***,” he laughed.
The game KAT was talking about was a 113-108 win against the Raptors, where his clutch dagger put the game beyond the 2019 champs’ reach. It was a sneak peek of what to expect from him in NYC. His stat line on the night was 24 points and 15 boards, and he would go on to average 24.4 points and 12.8 boards in his debut season with the Knicks.
Despite their season ending in the Conference Finals, the Knicks have a solid foundation for next season, especially with the Eastern Conference being significantly injured for 2026-27. If they do eventually clinch the Conference title, KAT’s contributions will be crucial.
