New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns has had a tremendous first season with the team. He is averaging 24.9 points and is second in the NBA in rebounds with 13.7.
Karl-Anthony Towns credits his success with the Knicks to Tom Thibodeau
Towns has looked like a different version of himself than in years past, as he is playing much more aggressively than during years with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He credits a lot of that growth to his head coach Tom Thibodeau, who he also was with from 2016-18 in Minnesota.
“I think that we all in life, we grow. I’ve grown since the time when we were together in Minnesota. He’s grown. I think that we’re just, in this game of life, we’re just finding ourselves and getting better all the time,” Towns said via the New York Post’s Peter Botte.
Towns and Thibodeau weren’t always on the same page, as the pair reportedly had a feud that lasted a few years following Thibodeau’s firing from Minnesota. However, that beef has long been squashed, and if there was still any concern about that, it can be put to rest with the way he is playing this season.
The Knicks are 24-10 and have won nine consecutive games behind the stellar play from Towns. On Wednesday against the Jazz, Towns stepped up with a 31-point, 21-rebound performance with Jalen Brunson sidelined with a calf injury, a performance that helped New York dominate despite missing their star point guard.
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Towns is getting proper recognition for his dominant season
Towns is beginning the get the recognition he deserves, as he was named Eastern Conference Player of The Month for December and has also received over one million votes in the first fan returns of All-Star voting. Additionally, he has been in the MVP conversation for the greater part of the season, and that will continue as long as he continues to put up big numbers.
Towns and the Knicks have a big test coming on Friday, as they will look to extend their win streak to 10 games against the red-hot Oklahoma City Thunder. Brunson (calf) and Miles McBride (hamstring) are both questionable for the game.
