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Mike Vorkunov: Myles Turner has been elected as a VP on the NBPA Executive Committee. He replaced Garrett Temple, who retired. This is now the full NBPA executive committee: • Fred VanVleet, President • Grant Williams, First Vice President • Mason Plumlee, Secretary-Treasurer • Karl-Anthony Towns, Vice President • Santi Aldama, Vice President • Jaylen Brown, Vice President • Trey Murphy III, Vice President • Myles Turner, Vice President • Gabe Vincent, Vice President
Six-time NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and entrepreneur and model Jordyn Woods will curate the latest edition of Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated auction, bringing their shared perspective as collectors to the biannual sale.
The couple has assembled a selection of 10 works by postwar and contemporary artists including Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, both associated with Pop Art; Helen Frankenthaler, Alma Thomas, and Sam Gilliam, all linked to the Washington Color School; and George Condo, John Chamberlain, Ed Ruscha, and Rashid Johnson. The live auction takes place at Sotheby’s New York on October 7th, with the exhibition on view from October 2nd.
Several works carry personal significance. Towns considers Condo’s I Want My Brain Back (2020) a reflection of “how much I was losing myself” during 2020, a particularly difficult year for the athlete. He noted that Condo has “become a great friend of ours.”
Karl-Anthony Towns: Congrats to my brother @TajGibson on an incredible career. Real one. True vet. Taught me so much! Now watch him cook as a coach in Chicago 👏 The city's lucky to have you big fella!
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Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordyn Woods tied the knot in a gorgeous black-and-white themed ceremony in Malibu, California, on Saturday. Per photos obtained by Page Six, the romantic ceremony was attended by stars like Woods’ longtime bestie Kylie Jenner and her boyfriend, Timothee Chalamet, as well as Justin and Hailey Bieber and more.
Stefan Bondy: Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns are in a different boat because their extension numbers won't necessarily remove their trade eligibility. A player who signs a veteran extension can’t be dealt for six months if his new deal includes a first-year raise of 20%, includes a subsequent annual raise of greater than 5% or is a deal for at least four years. McBride is in line for a big raise from his $4 million salary this season.
My buddy James Edwards III wrote recently in The Athetic that he doesn’t expect the Knicks to offer Towns a max extension. Towns is a forever Knick; his play in New York’s championship season will be celebrated for as long as the franchise exists. But I agree with Edwards on this: I don’t think the Knicks will offer Towns a max in extension talks. Also, if I had to take a guess, the two sides will reach an agreement. Towns clearly loves New York. Maybe he can make more money with another team next summer (Towns has a $57 million salary this season and his contract has a $61 million player option for 2027-28).
Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns is eligible for a four-year, $272 million contract extension. That is the most that the soon-to-be 31-year-old can receive from the Knicks. Towns was extension eligible last offseason. However, nothing came to fruition between the two sides. Towns will make just over $57 million this coming season and has a player option worth just over $61 million the following year before his contract expires. One thing I’m certain of is that New York’s decision-makers will offer Towns an extension. What I’m not certain of, and don’t expect, is whether the cash-conscious Knicks will offer him a max contract.
You need to tell me about OG’s play. Where were you on the court? Karl-Anthony Towns: I’m right next to him. I was gonna dunk it in. I see OG flying in the sky and I’m like, if he tries to tip the ball back in and it goes off the front rim, I’m going to dunk it back in. OG made it. It was something special. The play was designed to go to me, and then two people guarded me. We finally got the ball to J.B. [Jalen Brunson], and J.B. took a quick pull-up three, and OG, who was inbounding the ball, found himself with no one on him, and he crashed to the board and got the offensive rebound, which was the tip-in, and found a way to make the bucket. It’s going to go down as one of the greatest plays in New York history. One of the great plays in N.B.A. finals history.
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When you see that ball go through the hoop, what is that feeling? Are you even having thoughts? Karl-Anthony Towns: No. When you see me in the game, it’s so loud I didn’t hear the whistle. I just see people running on the court so my first reaction is to tell everyone to get off the court right now and stay focused on the game, but then I look back and see the ref grabbing the ball and I’m like, Oh, it’s a timeout. I see OG, and OG is very, uh, OG. He doesn’t have a lot to say. Karl-Anthony Towns: New York all knows how OG is. I saw him, and it was one of those things — you want to hype him up and stuff. I have such a close friendship with OG. I was like, Nah, you’re gonna get a hug for this one. This is a career-changing bucket for all of us. And he gave us a chance. We still had to get a stop, and he gave us a chance to get that stop.
There’s another moment from the series I want to ask you about. You had just scored against Wemby. You’re coming off the court, and the camera caught you saying something like — we’re not supposed to curse here — he can’t “fudge” with me. What was that in response to? Karl-Anthony Towns: I was just being competitive. I have tremendous confidence in my ability and what I do and the work I put in. It’s the finals, and you’re on the biggest stage against one of the best players in the world, and I wanted to prove again, after all these years, where I stand in the N.B.A. You had to take it a little personally, just as a competitor, to hear how much people were talking up Wemby before the finals. Karl-Anthony Towns: He deserves it — he’s a generational player. He’s extremely tall, and he’s God-gifted with intangibles that none of us were able to get. I mean, I’m seven feet, thank God, but 7-foot-4 would’ve been cool, too. He deserved it, but I’ve earned my stripes in this league, too.
Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were given a warm welcome at the Garden on Saturday — but this time was not for basketball. The two Knicks stars made WWE appearances during WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. Brunson, sporting sunglasses and a brace on his left wrist, was met with a booming roar from the crowd as he emerged from the tunnel alongside Roman Reigns at about 10:00 p.m. for the final event of the night. Fireworks shot off in the arena as the two pointed up, a reference to the wrestler’s iconic “The One” gesture.
Karl-Anthony Towns, who took the stage earlier in the night, was a bit more physical. He helped Danhausen — known for “uncursing” the Knicks after going down 2-1 against the Hawks in the first round — defeat JD McDonagh after making a surprise entrance late in the match. The Knicks’ center made his entrance in epic fashion, walking out of a smoke-filled container titled “cloning machine box.” Then during the match he choke-slammed McDonagh before doing the same to Dominik Mysterio through a wooden table.