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Karl Towns Sr. is the proud papa of NBA champion Karl-Anthony Towns, who was a key component in the team’s playoff run — which snapped a 53-year championship drought. Papa Towns take a shot at some Father’s Day Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby. Q: Why do you think New York City fell in love with your son Karl-Anthony? A: Because he’s humble, caring, loving. And he wanted to bring something to New York that they’ve been thirsting for 53 years. When he puts on that jersey, he knew every time he put it on he was representing his mother, the city, and he wanted to give them a chance to be where they were yesterday.
Q: What stands out to you about Karl-Anthony Towns’ on-court mentality? A: Pinpoint. Magic [Johnson] was always his idol. You could see out there he’s always navigating like a GPS system, he’s trying to make the right decision, right pass. I’m awed by some of the passes that he can get through to his players. Q: Jalen Brunson. A: Great player, great teammate. Call ’em Batman and Robin. I love the kid. The kid plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played. Plays hard, plays to win, he’s a great leader and a great person.
NBA Base: The Knicks could keep their core together for the next 3-5 years IF Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart are willing to take a pay cut, per @WindhorstESPN. KAT is eligible for a 4-year, $272M extension. "If Karl-Anthony Towns is willing to take a little bit of a haircut, you know, $7-10 million over the course of multiple seasons and Josh Hart is also extension eligible this summer, if both of them are willing to take a little bit of a haircut, you could see this core staying together for three, four, five years."
Vincent Goodwill: If I'm Karl-Anthony Towns, remember: The Knicks had the opportunity to extend him at the start of the season. They did not. It stuck with him. I don't think he's gotten over that. So, let's see how this plays out. I'm curious.
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Bobby Marks: Speaking of paying, we're going to probably have an eye on Karl-Anthony Towns. He is extension eligible. Jay, how about this number? Four years, $272 million. That is what Towns is extension eligible for. He's got two years left. He's got a player option for that second year. They can negotiate right now and he can sign that on July 6th. That's the number to certainly keep an eye on. Remember Jalen Brunson had given back some money. Mikal Bridges, will there be a compromise with Towns? Josh Hart is also extension eligible. Also, McBride, but Towns is going to be the player to focus on when we're looking at that next big contract here.

The Knicks are the toast of the sports world, with numerous athletes expressing their respect, admiration, and gratitude to the team. Among them is NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, who even created, along with rapper Cory Gunz, a two-minute music video using AI to celebrate New York's historic triumph. It also showed Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns and ESPN commentator Mike Breen. Was the singer supposed to be Alicia Keys?
Patrick Beverley: "Before I played with Karl-Anthony Towns I called him soft too, before I played with him. But when I left from playing with him, he's just so skilled. When I mean skilled, he's one of those players that when it's time to warm up before the game, he only need like five shots. He's played basketball for so long. He had his dad as a coach, so if you have a coach's son in the gym and he's been playing basketball since sixth grade with his dad and all that, basketball is easy. You don't need to be tough."

“To see [the Spurs] walk off the court, it was disheartening. I’ll blame it on youth,” Green said. “I’ll blame it on lacking the leader to show them that ‘hey, this is what you do. Not walk off.’ I blame it on that. “There’s a way to win and there’s a way to lose. And walking off the court, not looking your killer in his eyes, ain’t the way to lose…I hate it. I hate when people do it. And I hated to see those young Spurs do it because I actually think they’re capable of doing something special…and I would urge those young Spurs [to] reach out to Jalen Brunson however you can. Reach out to Karl-Anthony Towns however you can. Reach out to Josh Hart, however you can. You tell [those] dudes ‘congratulations.’”
Fullcourtpass: Karl-Anthony Towns when asked about Victor Wembanyama not being “friendly” during the Finals "He’s a once in a generation player that the league is honored to have." (h/t @MrBuckBuckNBA)
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Oh No He Didn't: Jalen: "When Josh honestly missed the layup. I'm not even trying to be funny. Usually I joke about that. Josh is on the floor kind of like holding his face and like me KAT and Jose just ran up to him and said get up, next play. I think that play really embodies this team"
Karl-Anthony Towns: All-Time great IG Live from @mikal_bridges

Including DiVincenzo in the trade crushed Rose, team sources said. Rose loved the way DiVincenzo, the fourth Villanova Knick, played and understood how losing him would affect personal relationships on the team. But Minnesota wouldn't do the trade without him, and Rose believed Towns would be a perfect complement for Brunson's skill set. Rose took no public questions on the trade, but he called DiVincenzo to inform the guard of the trade, according to sources on both sides of the transaction.
It was their night, too. Three of the Knicks’ most popular WAGs celebrated the team’s NBA championship on Saturday night at the Frost Bank Center. Ali Brunson (Jalen’s wife), Shannon Hart (Josh’s wife) and Jordyn Woods (Karl-Anthony Towns’ fiancée) took a photo with a large version of the Larry O’Brien trophy that went out on ESPN’s social media channels. “Knicks royalty,” all three captioned the video on their Instagram Stories.