Karl-Anthony Towns spoke at New York Knicks practice following their opening victory over San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals. The center discussed his evolution as a complete player, his defense on Victor Wembanyama, balancing aggression with control, Josh Hart's quiet impact, and a clear mindset before Game 2: forget the 1-0 lead and play as if the series is starting from scratch.
Q. I don't know if you've heard this, but in Brazil the Knicks are a kind of good luck charm because when they reached the Finals in the 70s, Brazil won. In '94, Brazil won. Now you're here and it's the World Cup. What are your plans regarding that? Are you planning to watch soccer matches between the Finals?
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS: Yeah, for sure. We have a lot of soccer fans on our team, myself included. When all this is done, actually I'm going to go, so I'll be excited to be at the World Cup as well.
Q. Karl, when you're in a position like the one you're in right now, how do you find that balance between wanting to do what you do best to help your team and, at the same time, not overdo it, not lose your foundation, and understand that sometimes it won't depend on you?
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS: That's a great question. That comes with experience. I've been in playoff series where I did too much, and it was detrimental to the team, and I've been in playoff series where I did too little, and that was also detrimental to the team.
It's a very fine line. It comes with experience, when you learn what's really best for the team and you're able to find that balance between being aggressive and impacting the game with your skill set, but also using that skill set to make others better. That's something experience has taught me. I think right now I'm doing it better than ever.
Q. What kind of content do you like to create and what kind of content can we expect in the future?
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS: That's a good question. Right now I'm enjoying sports cards with Topps and with everyone, and making powerful sports card content is kind of what I love doing right now. It's a passion of mine. It's something I really love doing. It was my first job before the NBA called, so it's pretty cool to go back to my first job.
Beyond that, I just like creating cinematic experiences from my life and ways to be creative, showing vlogs and things like that. That's why the content isn't always so consistent. I can't keep up with your pace on that—every day, every week. But when I post content, I do it with a purpose.
Q. I'm sure you've seen the videos of the chaos outside Madison Square Garden, and it's only been the first game. I know the work is far from over, but if you're able to win three more games and close out the series at the Garden, is there any world or any possibility that Karl-Anthony Towns appears on Seventh Avenue?
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS: Maybe a photo of me. I don't know. I pray for the NYPD.
It's a lot of fun. But it shows the love our fans have for us and the passion they have. I also have to give recognition to the NYPD, to all those men and women out there not only protecting everyone, but also, on the other hand, in my personal experience, being great Knicks fans and supporting Knicks fans in their ability to show how much they love the Knicks, being as flexible as possible without chaos occurring. So recognition to the men and women of the NYPD.
Q. Jalen was talking a moment ago in the other room about your defense during the playoffs. What did you see when you got that assignment on Wemby yesterday? I think he was 2 of 11 with you as the primary defender. What was your approach? Have you seen your level rise in the playoffs, whether mentally or physically?
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS: Like I've told you and everyone, I just want to impact the win. Whatever the team needs me to do to impact the win and help us get over the hump and get that victory that night, I'm willing to do it.
Last night was a night where a lot of things happened. Jalen got injured, my role changed. Jalen came back, I had to change my role again. During the game you're changing your role three, four times. But whatever my role is, I have to be the best at it and impact the win.
I think last night I did a good job in whatever role I was asked to play, and I wanted to be a star in that role.
Q. The difference between leaving here at 1-1 or 2-0, knowing they've already come back in several series, how important is it to not give them any hope or momentum, to step hard here and take that 2-0 advantage?
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS: For me, I don't think about any of that, about 1-1 or 2-0. I just think it's 0-0. The next game is the most important game of the year, so it's about staying in the present, not worrying about how the future might be, not worrying about what we've done in the past. Cancel all that out and only worry about the present. Tomorrow, when we step on the court, there needs to be the same determination, desperation, level of energy and physicality needed to win a game.
Q. What advice would you give to someone like you, a center with outside skills and all that, a rookie center who's trying to learn? What advice do you have for me?
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS: I want to say, you're already tremendously talented. I've seen it firsthand.
I think for me, it would be more a matter of focusing on film, working hard consistently, especially early in your career, never leaving the gym, being obsessed with the work.
I know it sounds weird, but JB has it on his shirts and things like that: the magic is really in the work. And use that work to get more comfortable with the game. I think the more work you put in, the more time you use to understand your teammates, where they like to receive the ball, where they like to excel, what their best shots are in terms of percentage and things like that, the more options you give yourself for the game to slow down. And with experience, the game slows down a lot.
The real gift of experience is that you find ways to achieve the same objective and get the stats using much less energy. That's when experience really comes into play, and that's when the beauty appears.
Q. You're reaching another level as a player, as a more complete player, with defense, passing, rebounding, all of that. Can you explain the process and the work you've put in to understand it and reach this level as a player where you can do so many things?
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS: Yeah, just constantly working on my game. No days off. Always finding something to do to take my game to the next level. On the days you call days off, there's a lot of treatment, making sure my body can do what you just mentioned.
Even last night, after the game, right after, we had a two-and-a-half-hour treatment session to be good for the next game. The work never stops. When the cameras stop rolling and there's no NBA trophy nearby, no basketball to dribble, you find another way to give yourself an edge.
Q. Josh had a somewhat difficult start to the game yesterday, picked up three quick fouls, few minutes in the first half. Was anything said in the locker room about what you needed from him, or at this point do you already know he's going to be able to show up in the final stretch?
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS: Yeah, you know what Josh is going to do. He's going to play hard. He's going to be a dog. He's going to get out there and find a way to get the job done. He's going to do it with a high level of energy and a lot of physicality and determination. You never want to tell Josh not to do something.
I think for us, we adjusted, we stayed together. We're a team.
We understand what Josh is going to do. When the game got to the crucial moment and you look at the stat sheet, he led the team in rebounds, and that came simply from his pure effort. His ability to pick up the pace for us and be impactful in so many other ways without needing to score the basketball is a big reason why we're here, in the NBA Finals.