“We had a successful year,” Towns explains. Still, he’s learned to roll with things as they come. “I’ve always had instability in my career,” he says. “You always think the best, and you also expect the worst. So you never know.” He adds that he’s looking forward to playing for Mike Brown, the coach who was hired to replace Thibodeau. “I’ve heard so many great things about him,” says Towns. “To be able to know him now as a person and to grow with him as a player, it’s going to be fun to go through this journey together.”
Despite his on-court success, impatient Knicks fans at times criticized Towns’ defense and aggressiveness. “All criticism is good criticism. It gives me a chance to go back in the lab and then understand what I’ve got to work on,” says Towns. “Every year I’ve shown the fans and the sports world and NBA world that I’m always continuing to find another level, reinventing myself for the betterment of the team’s success. And I’m going to continue to do that until I have the ring.”
Towns says he’s already visualizing what the diamonds on that championship jewelry would look like. To win New York’s first NBA title in 53 years, while rallying the city’s 700,000-strong Dominican population behind him, would fulfill a dream. “I know you want me to find words, but words can’t describe how bad I want to win a ring,” says Towns. “It doesn’t need words.”