Speaker
Karl-Anthony Towns
Appearances over time
1 episodes
Episodes
1
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
Karl-Anthony Towns lost eight family members during COVID-19, including his mother, and was hospitalized himself.
Towns believed he'd win a championship in his first 5 years in Minnesota; instead, the title came on God's timing years later with the Knicks.
Towns says his greatest moment of the championship run wasn't the winning shot — it was feeling his late mother's presence on the court in the 20 minutes before Game 1 began.
Towns and his fiancée Jordan were strictly platonic friends for two and a half years before becoming a couple.
Towns arrives at the practice facility four hours before an 11am shootaround, turning on the lights himself and working on his body before anyone else arrives.
At just 7th grade, Towns had the courageous conversation with his father to reject an outside training guru and trust their shared vision for his unconventional playing style.
Towns claims the Knicks won every game Jordan brought her orange bag to the arena — 15 games in a row including playoffs — and lost the one game she didn't.
Towns was shocked by his trade from Minnesota because there was no warning, no whisper, and no sign — he went to sleep as a Timberwolf and woke up traded.
Towns says he used to believe money would bring happiness, but losing his mother proved that wealth couldn't save the people who mattered most.
Mac Miller told Towns that everything sounds good loud, but asked how it sounds when there's no noise — a metaphor Towns interpreted as a life lesson about authenticity when no one is watching.
Towns found his mental health support not in conventional therapy but in Arnie Kander, head of Orlando Magic's health and sports science, who became a father-figure and trusted confidant.
Towns was the only family member allowed into the hospital to say goodbye to his mother before she passed, wearing a hazmat suit and fixing her hair and nails.
Towns was so locked in during a San Antonio game that he had no idea close friend Timothée Chalamet was sitting one seat away from him for the entire game.
When a young Towns accidentally let his mother's prized parakeet escape, she responded with total calm and forgiveness, teaching him that letting go is more powerful than holding a grudge.
Mac Miller showed Towns unreleased music and asked: 'Everything sounds good loud, but when there's no noise, how does it sound?' Towns reinterpreted it as the question that defines character: are you the same generous, authentic person when no cameras are rolling and no one is watching?
Conventional therapy wasn't right for Towns — he found his emotional outlet in Arnie Kander, the head of Orlando Magic's sports science department, who became a trusted mentor with Buddhist, Catholic, and naturalistic spiritual influences. Real mental health support doesn't have to come from a therapist's couch.
There's a thin line between being in the moment and losing yourself in it. Towns felt that distinction sharply at the championship parade when, after years of disrespect, the New York crowd finally gave him the one currency that matters in that city: respect.
The New York Knicks won every playoff game in which Jordan Towns brought her orange Wiz bag to MSG — approximately 15 straight. Even KAT's teammates were asking before crucial games whether the bag would make it in. When Trump's visit caused security chaos and she couldn't bring it, they lost.
Towns arrives four hours before an 11am shootaround, watches film, then deliberately fills his mind with everything except basketball before the game. And when he locks in, he sees nothing — no fans, no celebrities, not even Timothée Chalamet sitting one seat away.
Winning the NBA championship is the goal of a lifetime — and then it's gone in a flash. Towns describes arriving home the morning after the title, working out anyway, and realizing that shutting off the competitor's mindset is harder than any game.
In 7th grade, Towns took his father on a walk around the block and made a courageous case for rejecting one of the world's top training gurus. He argued that no one understood the vision — a multi-skilled big man unlike any before — better than his own dad. His father listened without a word, then called the trainer to let him go.
A young Towns accidentally let his mother's beloved parakeet escape. Instead of anger, she said, 'The bird had better places to be anyway.' That single moment of graceful forgiveness became Towns's operating philosophy: it's okay to forgive, but not to forget — and doing so stops others from owning any piece of your life.
Towns was the only family member COVID protocols allowed to enter the hospital to say goodbye to his mother. He fixed her hair, cleaned her nails, and had the conversation they'd never had — telling her about Jordan, a friend he wasn't sure would become more, and asking his mother to guide him from the other side.
Before Game 1 of the NBA Finals, in the 20 quiet minutes before the national anthem, Towns felt his late mother's presence so powerfully that it surpassed the feeling of winning the championship itself. The music sounded perfect, the ball felt youthful, and he just kept smiling.
Towns's survivor's guilt isn't about himself — it's about his mother missing the moments that would have mattered most to her: the championship, the engagement, future kids. Every milestone is shadowed by the person who most deserved to witness it.
Karl-Anthony Towns met his fiancée Jordan over Uno in LA. He beat her every time, they were strictly friends for two and a half years, and now they're getting married. The foundation was friendship — and that, Towns says, is exactly what makes it work.
No whisper, no sign, no warning. Towns's Minnesota career ended in an instant, and he had to walk past his own trophies and accomplishments knowing they suddenly belonged to a chapter that was over. But the trade led him exactly where he needed to be.
Towns used to believe money would solve problems and bring happiness. Then COVID took his mother and eight family members. All his wealth couldn't save a single one of them. The people were always the source of happiness — money was just how you brought them together.
Treat people the way you want to be treated. Simple, ancient, and apparently forgotten. Towns argues that somewhere along the way humans started adding stipulations to this basic law — and that removing them is all we really need.
Analysis
What they talk about
- Society & Culture 77%
- Health & Fitness 8%
- Religion & Spirituality 8%
- Sports 7%
