{"id":759888,"date":"2026-06-13T09:45:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T09:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/759888\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T09:45:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T09:45:20","slug":"knicks-karl-anthony-towns-a-new-jersey-kid-on-verge-of-becoming-a-new-york-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/759888\/","title":{"rendered":"Knicks\u2019 Karl-Anthony Towns, a New Jersey kid on verge of becoming a New York legend"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Orlando Antigua remembers that bygone call from his boss at Kentucky, John Calipari, who was attending a tournament for prospects in Pittsburgh. Coach Cal needed a reminder from Antigua about a recruit the assistant was tracking.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey O, the Dominican kid, what\u2019s his last name again?\u201d Calipari asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cTowns,\u201d Antigua replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not a Dominican name.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I\u2019m watching this kid right now and he\u2019s ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karl-Anthony Towns was indeed a ridiculous prospect as a 6-foot-10 teenager who rained down 3-pointers on opponents at St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, N.J. Calipari and his staff remodeled Towns\u2019 game in his one-and-done year, made him a post threat, shaped him into the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft and helped put him on the verge of becoming the New York Knicks\u2019 first championship center since Willis Reed.<\/p>\n

After Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, after famously serving as a point-center to kick-start the Knicks\u2019 title drive, Towns met with Calipari and former Kentucky assistant Barry Rohrssen on the Madison Square Garden court and told them he absolutely did not care how many points he was or wasn\u2019t scoring in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cKAT just looked at Cal and said, \u2018The things I\u2019m doing now are making a difference for our chances to win,\u2019\u201d Rohrssen recalled. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like he wanted to get it off his chest and let Cal know that the thing we preached at Kentucky, where we had so many good players like the Knicks do, is to make sure your numbers help the team. It\u2019s good to see KAT held on to that belief. He told us, \u2018My numbers now are meaningful numbers because they are contributing to wins.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Towns finished Game 4 of the NBA Finals with 13 points and 10 rebounds, pedestrian stats for a six-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA player. But from what is almost certainly the greatest basketball game ever played in the Garden, witnesses will only remember the plays KAT made in the closing stages of a frantic, history-making rally from 29 points down.<\/p>\n

They will remember the 3-pointer to beat the shot-clock buzzer as he crash-landed into the San Antonio Spurs\u2019 bench. They will remember how Towns bullied past Victor Wembanyama on the baseline for a critical hoop. They will even remember how he literally took one for the team by absorbing a Wemby elbow under his chin, leading to a flagrant-foul call and the launch point for the comeback.<\/p>\n

But more than anything, they will remember how Towns used every bit of his 7-foot-3 wingspan and every ounce of his competitive spirit to deflect Dylan Harper\u2019s inbound pass with 1.2 seconds left, a pass that might have found an open Stephon Castle and reduced the OG Anunoby miracle to the sport\u2019s most conspicuous footnote.<\/p>\n

Oh yeah, and they\u2019ll remember how KAT asked a couple of front-row fans to slide to their right<\/a> to make Harper feel the forceful breath of an entire city closing in on him.<\/p>\n

If Towns wasn\u2019t considered a complete player with the Minnesota Timberwolves, well, he is one now. Hard as it is to believe, but KAT was regarded in some league corners as a card-carrying Mister Softee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe narrative was placed on him by the outside world,\u201d Jalen Brunson said. Brunson called his running mate \u201ca Hall of Famer\u201d who has done \u201cextraordinary\u201d things for the Knicks.<\/p>\n

Like sacrificing individual scoring glory for the greater good. Towns called passing the ball \u201cone of my greatest joys\u201d because it makes his teammates happy. In the end, this Towns quote explains why the center is now viewed differently around the league and around the city he\u2019s always wanted to play for:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had to change the way I play so it could be most beneficial for the team. Taking all that experience this year, I\u2019ve had to do it on the fly. It wasn\u2019t game by game. It\u2019s been quarter by quarter. That comes with experience, and just knowledge of the game, and just time. Time playing the game, time putting shots up, time reading defenses, seeing defenses, offenses.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne game Jalen got hurt, that\u2019s when I have to be a primary scorer. Other games when he\u2019s cooking, I got to be a facilitator, a hub, assist-maker, aggressive in playmaking. \u2026 There\u2019s also days where I got to be a decoy. I got to be the best screener. I got to be the best spacer for our offense. So I think that right now, whatever it takes to win, especially when you\u2019re in the NBA Finals, I\u2019m willing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those words wouldn\u2019t surprise the coaches or players who knew KAT as an exceedingly pleasant high school big man and as New Jersey\u2019s tallest shooting guard. The upperclassmen on the St. Joseph team wanted Towns to play in the paint and posterize dudes, yet the freshman kept drifting out to the perimeter and firing up 3s. It was hard for anyone to get mad at him.<\/p>\n

A senior on that team, Daniel Brix, once called Towns \u201cthe nicest kid on and off the floor that I\u2019ve ever met or played with.\u201d The son of a Dominican mother, Jacqueline, and an American father, Karl Sr., who was once a college star at Monmouth, Towns led St. Joseph to three state titles while dreaming of someday playing for the Knicks.<\/p>\n

Antigua\u2019s brother Oliver coached him on the Dominican Republic\u2019s junior national team before Calipari actually coached him on the country\u2019s senior national team. \u201cI was more impressed with KAT as a person than a player,\u201d Antigua said, \u201cand he was a really, really good player. KAT had great skill at that size, but it was more his intellect and his thirst for knowledge that was so impressive for someone that young.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Karl-Anthony<\/p>\n

\n Karl-Anthony Towns of the Dominican Republic and Anthony Davis of the United States battle for a rebound during a senior national team game in Las Vegas in 2012. (David Becker \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in the Bronx, Orlando Antigua, once a starting forward at Pittsburgh, was a natural fit as Kentucky\u2019s lead recruiter on Towns. He landed KAT, of course, but then left the bluegrass to become the head coach at South Florida. On his way out, Antigua assured the Towns family that Karl-Anthony would be in reliable hands with one of his mentors, Rohrssen, a fellow New Yorker who looked and talked the part of a Brooklyn tough guy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember sitting behind my desk at Kentucky and in walks Karl\u2019s mom, God rest her soul,\u2019\u201d Rohrssen said. \u201cShe looks at me and says, \u2018You had better take care of my son.\u2019 And I said, \u2018Well, I do that for everybody and I always have.\u2019 And she says, \u2018Orlando told me you were good people.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Rohrssen and future Knicks assistant Kenny Payne worked Towns hard, sometimes three times a day, morning, noon and night. But after the very first shot KAT took in his very first practice at Kentucky, Calipari had a problem.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n

\n From left are Barry Rohrssen, John Calipari, Karl-Anthony Towns and Karl Towns Sr. (Courtesy of Barry Rohrssen)<\/p>\n

\u201cCal blew the whistle like it was a fire drill,\u201d Rohrssen recalled. \u201cKarl took a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and Cal stops the practice and goes, \u2018No, no, no. You\u2019re not going to do that. All these pro coaches saw you do that in high school.\u2019 Cal then pointed his finger toward the block and said, \u2018This is where pro scouts need to see you score. And we\u2019re going to get you there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

After averaging more than 40 3-pointers per season in high school, Towns took only eight at Kentucky. He still managed to score 25 points against Notre Dame to send the 38-0 Wildcats to the Final Four in 2015, when, paired against Wisconsin, they lost their bid for a perfect season.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Orlando Antigua, now an assistant coach at Illinois, knew Towns would be a great fit in New York.<\/p>\n

At the time, Antigua knew where Towns belonged. \u201cHe\u2019d be a perfect fit for the Knicks and a city he\u2019s spent his whole life around and knows very well,\u201d Antigua said in 2015. He\u2019s already part of one of the biggest stages there is with Kentucky, so I don\u2019t think New York would be a problem for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reminded of those words 11 years later, with Towns and the Knicks closing in on the franchise\u2019s first championship since 1973, Antigua, now an assistant at Illinois, said, \u201cWow, to hear that so many years removed, I\u2019m just extremely proud of him. And I\u2019m extremely happy for him and love the fact that I can be a cheerleader for him and the Knicks from afar.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like his protege, Rohrssen also thought New York always made sense for New Jersey\u2019s finest. As a St. Joseph freshman, Towns used to repeatedly make shots from a couple of steps inside the half-court line \u2026 while wearing a Yankees shirt.<\/p>\n

Rohrssen and Towns still talk about their favorite baseball team in the Bronx. They talk more often about their favorite basketball team in Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Now, Towns stands one victory away from Knicks immortality. Like Harper\u2019s ill-fated inbounds pass in Game 4, it\u2019s right there at KAT\u2019s fingertips.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Orlando Antigua remembers that bygone call from his boss at Kentucky, John Calipari, who was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7,3075,6,191,2294],"class_list":["post-759888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-basketball","tag-kentucky-wildcats","tag-nba","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-opinion"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116742162198806438","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}