Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the most polarising athletes in the NBA today. Undoubtedly, the former #1 pick is supremely talented, but somehow people don’t want to give him his due credit. This was on full display last night, as despite his Knicks grabbing a huge win over the Denver Nuggets, Draymond Green put out a tweet criticizing him.
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The Knicks stormed to a 122-112 victory over the Nuggets, and KAT’s contributions on defense were huge in keeping Nikola Jokic silent. The reigning MVP tallied only 17 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Despite his low numbers, Green tweeted out, claiming KAT would “never hold the respect from an opponent” if he guarded them the way he did.
KAT in a full front on Joker… even if you win the game it don’t matter. You will never hold the respect from an opponent to win at the highest level… pride must make you sit down and guard, even if you give up 40… Winning is a mindset, and in order to win a championship…
— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) January 30, 2025
This tweet rubbed many people the wrong way, and understandably so. KAT’s contributions were huge, and he managed to do something that seemed almost impossible over the last few seasons – slow Jokic down. Green was called out by a former teammate of Towns’ – Patrick Beverley, who claimed Green was massively downplaying the Knicks center’s impact on defense.
He also mentioned KAT’s immense talent and added that, despite what Green may think, he had the respect of his peers.
cmon Dray give that man his flowers 💐. Kat was the main reason minnesota beat the nuggets last season.
i know we competitive as athletes but Kat is a talent and is respected by his peers. seems like u don’t respect him which is cool but Kat got real game.
Luv Gang @KarlTowns… https://t.co/kgAP9FKiRQ
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) January 30, 2025
His words about Minnesota’s series win against the Nuggets last year also hold true, as KAT’s defensive presence was huge in their qualification for the WCF.
Karl-Anthony Towns helped the Wolves beat the Nuggets last year
When the Wolves drew the Nuggets in the second round, it was expected to be a clash of the bigs. Their twin towers frontcourt of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns would be matching up against Jokic, and there was no way of knowing who’d come out on top.
Things became a bit clearer, as the Wolves raced to a 2-0 lead, and KAT’s help defense on Jokic was limited to just 16 points in game 2. The Nuggets fought back, and Jokic ran circles around DPOY Gobert and pulled ahead to a 3-2 series lead.
KAT’s two-way play ensured Jokic had to defend him in his own paint. With so much of his energy expended there, his offensive game slowly took a hit, and KAT shut him down on the other end. Game 6, which was a 45-point blowout win for the Wolves, saw Jokic limited to just 22 points with Towns’ defense coming up clutch again.
Sure, there were moments where Towns slacked off a bit last night against Jokic, but to call him out in that manner was a rather strange move by Green, esp considering Towns’ recent record vs the 3x MVP.
