SAN ANTONIO — Karl-Anthony Towns immediately searched out his father.
He found him — after the Knicks’ 94-90 win over the Spurs on Saturday night at the Frost Bank Arena clinched the championship — and hugged the man who has attended as many Knicks games as he possibly could. The two have been through so much together.
Now, they were celebrating together.
Moments later, Towns credited his late mother, who died from COVID in 2020.
“Y’all heard my story, y’all know my story,” Towns said. “I just want to say: Thank you Mama, I appreciate you getting me one.”
It didn’t matter that the final act wasn’t memorable, scoring just two points and struggling with foul trouble all night.
By the end of the night, Towns had the prize that had eluded him his entire 11-year career.
“You work your whole life for this moment,” Towns said. “As they always said with this team, it is written for New York.”
Back-to-back trips to the conference finals — with the Timberwolves two years ago and the Knicks last year — ended in heartbreak. Over the offseason, his name regularly circulated within the media in potential trade discussions with Giannis Antetokounmpo. There were constant comments throughout the regular season about his slow adjustment to coach Mike Brown’s system.
But the best version of Towns emerged in the playoffs. It took a while, but he and Jalen Brunson finally became the co-stars the Knicks badly needed them to be.
Walt Frazier and Willis Reed won two championships together. Now, Brunson and Towns have their first together.
And Towns has cemented his place in Knicks history.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
