Wednesday night, Karl-Anthony Towns posted his second triple-double as a member of the New York Knicks, dropping 20 points, 11 assists, and 11 rebounds in a 130-119 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Considering the fact that such an impressive showing came on a night where Jalen Brunson was sidelined with an ankle ailment, the ridiculous notion that the big man is most impactful when his All-Star counterpart is off the court has once again been discussed among both fans and pundits alike.
2025-26 has been a season marred by overall struggles and lulls for Towns, as he's closing in on averaging the second-fewest points-per-game (20.1) and third-lowest long-range shooting percentage (36.8) of his illustrious, 11-year pro career.
With the playoffs right around the corner, and expectations for this club being through the roof, it makes sense why so many are searching for reasons behind the rut of New York's 1B option.
However, casting blame on Brunson is far from logical, and clear evidence against this growing criticism lies beyond mere counting stats.
Jalen Brunson is not the issue when it comes to struggles of Knicks big
So far this season, Towns has played seven games without Brunson in the lineup.
Considering he's averaging 26.1 points and 13.1 rebounds per game in such scenarios, these surface-level findings seem to suggest that the big man has seamlessly reverted back to his de facto, number one option comfort zone.
However, simply put, though his glamour stats may inflate, his on-court efficiency and impact on winning have remained as troublesome, if not even worse, as they have been when running alongside the Knicks captain.
In said contests, Towns is shooting at a 48.5 percent clip from the floor (worse than his average on the season) and 36.9 percent from deep, roughly the same as his averages on the year. Of course, most notably, the Knicks have gone a lowly 3-4 with KAT serving as the primary option, with only one of these wins coming against a postseason-caliber team (Miami).
Since his arrival in the Big Apple back in 2022, with Brunson in the fold, the Knicks are 175-105 throughout this four-year span. Without him, they've gone just 22-21 and a middling 12-10 with Towns available.
There's strong evidence to suggest that Brunson and Towns' innate styles of play simply don't mesh well together, but this shouldn't spark a finger-pointing bout to place blame on the latter's struggles.
At the end of the day, it's up to coach Mike Brown to figure out how to make this pairing work and have the two complement one another on the floor once the playoffs come underway.
To criticize Brunson for Towns' shortcomings is absolutely baffling.