In arguably the biggest game of his NBA career, Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns wasn't scared or overwhelmed. Instead, when Towns stepped onto the court on Wednesday night in his first-ever NBA Finals game, he felt an odd sense of peace.
"I don't know what it was," he told the Inside the NBA crew after a 105-95 Game 1 win over the Spurs, "but I just felt a calm and a peace that I know had to come from the woman above. So I felt really confident about today."
The woman he's referencing is his late mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, who died in April 2020 due to complications from COVID-19 at the age of 58. Towns had an incredibly close relationship with his mother, something he detailed in an 18-minute YouTube video called “THE TOUGHEST YEAR OF MY LIFE,” where he discussed the emotional toll of having to make the decision to pull the plug on his mother and say goodbye.
Towns was just 24 years old at the time and mentioned the struggle he went through to process and accept his loss. "I think that one day, and I know it's creeping up, I feel it every day, it's gonna creep up, and I'm going to have to find a way to deal with it," he told ESPN in an interview back in November of 2020."That's why I wanted to do this [interview]. I thought this would be therapeutic for me to admit that these things are real, and how I feel is real, and being able to try to find some normalcy."
Yet, over the years, Towns' ability to face his pain head-on led him to a place of strength. In 2024, just days before he was traded to the Knicks,Towns appeared on Shannon Sharpe’s podcast “Club Shay Shay”and discussed the impact of his mom's death on the man he had become: "I'll be a stronger version than I was at that moment. You get stronger. I know time heals all wounds; time can also just make scar tissue. I just kind of have a scar there, but I became stronger because of that scar."
It was a strength he had to call on numerous times this season.
In late December and early January, the Knicks went through a 2-9 skid that saw them lose to a few non-playoff teams, including the tanking Mavericks and Kings teams. Despite the Knicks still being seven games over .500 at the time, there was a feeling that this team was not close to living up to expectations, and frustrations with Towns were front and center. Even by the middle of February, Towns was averaging 19.8 points per game and 34.9% shooting from three-point range, which would have been his lowest marks since his rookie season. He was also shooting just 46.7 percent overall from the field, which would have been the worst of his career.
Yet, despite those struggles, the Knicks are still standing and are just three wins away from an NBA title. A big reason for that is the way in which Towns embraced a selfless style of basketball.He put more emphasis on his passing and rebounding and refocused his energy on the big picture needs of the team. He dug in on the defensive side of the floor, which we saw on full display in Game 1 when he guarded Spurs' 7'5" center Victor Wembanyama better than anybody could have anticipated. He also tied Wembanyama with 12 rebounds, while also being second on the Knicks with four assists. He blew by Wembanyama on the dribble multiple times and led all players with four offensive rebounds, helping him to finish second on the Knicks with 18 points.
That desire to help his team in any way possible is something he reiterated in Thursday's press sessions.
Much of that selflessness and resiliency can be tied back to the lessons he learned from his mother.
"I know that you know my lessons were over, teaching me the game of life," he told Sharpe in that 2024 interview. "She had taught me everything she needed to teach me, so I'm just taking those teachings and giving it to the next generation... I'm willing to show my courage and show my strength by allowing myself to possibly be hurt by showing love to others, and I think that's a tremendous lesson she taught me, to not stop ever showing love just because I've been hurt once or twice."
Those lessons taught Towns to push through adversity on the court as well.
At one point, the Knicks trailed the Spurs by 14 points in the third quarter. Before last night's game, NBA teams were 4-87 in the NBA Finals since 1996-97 when trailing by 14 or more points in the second half of the game. Yet, the Knicks were able to overcome the deficit. Just as they were able to overcome a 22-point second-half deficit in game one of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cavaliers. After the game, Towns compared the resiliency he and his teammates have shown to the grit of New York City, saying that the team can "feel that energy in the city, the grit, the grind, the hard work you gotta put in to make it in the city. I think we reflect all our fans and, and, and their lifestyles and what it takes to make it in New York City, when we step on that court with the Knicks jersey."
But it's also a reflection of his mother and her lessons.
"It means a lot. It means a lot for my mother. When she emigrated from [the Dominican Republic] to New York, she saw Madison Square Garden for the first time and saw the energy the city has for Madison Square Garden and the Knicks...To be able to have this moment in Knicks history where we're back here, where New York has been hungry to be back in this Finals, it means a lot. It means a lot to me, my loved ones, to be part of the Knicks history that's doing this."
"In a way, I felt like I was seeing her in the stands," he said after the game. "It was really fun, and it was really comforting, because you know, game one of the NBA finals, you're told what the pressure is going to be. It felt like a certain presence was here that was very comforting and very loving, and I felt like I could have fun out here in game one of the NBA finals, which is the weirdest thing, because you would expect to have the pressure at the highest."
Yet, Towns seemed to feel no pressure on Wednesday. When the Spurs opened up a 14-point lead with 6:31 to go in the third quarter, Towns found Mikail Bridges for an 11-foot jumpshot. After a Josh Hart free throw, the Spurs went right down and scored, but then Towns quickly found Landry Shamet for a layup. After a Spurs miss, Towns completed an and-one to get the Knicks within eight points. On the ensuing defensive possession, Towns blocked a layup by Julian Champagnie, and then Jalen Brunson scored on the other end to cut the lead to six. A few possessions later, with the Knicks down by five, Towns grabbed an offensive rebound and nailed the putback to cut the lead to three, and when the Spurs went right back and scored, Towns answered with another and-one to bring the Knicks to within two points.
Just like that, the Knicks had clawed back from the brink again, and Towns was at the center of it. Instead of being undone by the pressure of the moment, he was buoyed by the overwhelming joy of being in a moment he had always dreamed about.
"I felt like a kid. It was just fun out here," he told the Inside the NBA crew. "This is something that, as a kid, you always dream about. You just hope to be an NBA player, let alone to be in the NBA finals. All day was just a weird feeling. It felt like I was a kid getting ready to go play my Saturday AAU games and Sunday AAU games."
That child-like sense of peace allowed Towns to block out all the other distractions and rise to the occasion in arguably the biggest game of his career. Much like he has over the last few weeks, he simplified the task in front of him, made the most of the opportunities he was presented with, and trusted the people closest to him to help get the job done together.
"You never know what life has for you. You never know if you'll get another opportunity. But just appreciating it and being grateful that you do get this opportunity is everything. My life has taught me a lot of different things, but one of the biggest things it's always taught me is about the word grateful and just being grateful for all the good, all the bad that happens, and understanding that every single moment is a chance to grow."
There's still more work to be done, but, for now, Towns and the Knicks are taking advantage of the chance they're being given right now.
