Jason Burgos
This week, Karl-Anthony Towns revealed his inspiration to become a New York Knicks fan in his youth, and it is sure to surprise long-time fans of the franchise.
Towns and his teammates are on the verge of turning themselves into New York sports legends if they can finish the story and lead the Knicks to an NBA championship in June. Despite being one of the most popular teams in the league, the franchise has not brought a title to Gotham in over 50 years.
For someone like Towns, achieving that goal will be even sweeter as a native of the tri-state area (specifically New Jersey) and having been a Knicks fan since his youth.
Right now, the team is healing up and looking to find out who they will play in the NBA Finals after scoring a second straight series sweep on Monday. This time against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals. With no opponent set, he and other Knicks players have received some questions outside the norm from New York media.
On Friday, the six-time All-Star spoke about what made him become a Knicks fan in his teens, and his answer is one no fan would expect.
Jeremy Lin inspired Karl-Anthony Towns’ NY Knicks fandom
“I truly want to give a shoutout to Jeremy Lin because he really made me a Knicks fan and had me at Modell’s,” Towns said [h/t New York Post]. “It was crazy trying to find his jersey. I have so much love for Jeremy Lin. He’s one of my favorite Knicks of all time, one of my favorite players of all time. He made me so passionate about the Knicks.
“… [They] showed me the other day Jeremy Lin on social [media], for him to even mention me was kind of crazy because the love I have for him and what he’s done for me and my Knicks fandom is second to none.”
Towns is only 30 years old. Since he was born in 1995, the team made the playoffs just 10 times before he entered the league in 2015. Six of those came when he was too young to even care or remember. So KAT didn’t have many great players to watch during a rough time in Knicks history.
Nevertheless, he was still old enough to see the exploits of future Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony and even Amare Stoudemire in a Knicks jersey. However, “Lin-Sanity” is the thing that really made him become a devoted fan of the team.
“Lin-Sanity” happened in 2012 and lasted just 20 days. The Harvard alum took the city by storm as he played like a star for a few weeks when the fanbase really needed it. In the end, he took a deal from the Houston Rockets the following summer. Lin would go on to play seven more seasons in the NBA, and with six different teams, before retiring in 2019. He finished his NBA run averaging 11.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists.
