Since the New York Knicks claimed their first title since 1973 this past Saturday, fans and pundits alike have been busy discussing where they believe Jalen Brunson falls in the pantheon of past franchise greats.
While such a conversation is more than warranted, his All-Star running mate Karl-Anthony Towns deserves to have his name floated into the same exciting discussion as well.
Brunson is the undisputed best player and leader on this championship-winning Knicks team. No one should ever try to take such a label away from him.
However, without the big man's help, New York may not have even been in a position to come away from 2025-26 as the top dogs of the association.
Karl-Anthony Towns has only helped Knicks win throughout his tenure
Two offseasons ago, the Knicks pulled off the blockbuster trade that landed Towns in the Big Apple.
Since then, the club has done nothing but improve to legendary levels.
In his first go-around with the team, New York managed to record the fifth-most wins in franchise history with 53 and saw their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years, while the pivot saw arguably the best campaign of his career with averages of 24.4 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists on 52.6 percent shooting from the floor and 42.0 percent shooting from deep.
In year two, the Knicks once again finished as a top-three seed in the Eastern Conference, clinched their first NBA Finals berth of the Century, and, as we all now know, ended their 53-year title drought.
Towns undoubtedly played a major role throughout this emotionally-charged ride.
For some, it may be hard to accept this truth. After all, Towns did struggle quite a bit during the final few games of the Finals, even fouling out of the club's Game 5 series-deciding win with just two points in 22 minutes of action.
However, for the vast majority of New York's championship run, the star center was playing an astounding brand of basketball, wrapping up all four rounds of action with stat-sheet-stuffing averages of 15.9 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.3 blocks while shooting 55.1 percent from the floor and 45.6 percent from deep.
Towns also became the first center in NBA history with shooting splits of 50/ 40/ 90 during a title run.
His impact on the team's success was so great, in fact, that his plus-258 playoff plus-minus registers in as the highest by any individual in a single run in league history, surpassing the likes of 2017 Stephen Curry (plus-245), 2016 LeBron James (plus-209), and, shockingly enough, Brunson himself during this past postseason (plus-239).
With all of this attached to the fact that New York finished with the greatest postseason point differential in NBA history at plus-283, it seems absolutely ludicrous to believe that Towns isn't now in the conversation for greatest Knicks of all time, along with Brunson.
Though they may fall in different areas within the top-10, both are more than deserving of being there.
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