NBA Finals: Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns have developed a close bond
Knicks stars Karl-Anthony Towns, left, and Jalen Brunson have formed a close bond. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams
When the Knicks suffered their first loss in nearly two months, dropping Game 3 of the NBA Finals to the Spurs Monday night at Madison Square Garden, they could’ve panicked.
Spoiling the chance to live up to the celebratory nature of the night with the Knicks forgetting the things that had gotten them to 13 consecutive wins, could have created tension within the walls of the locker room, fingers pointing and blame shifting.
Instead, as they sat down with the media to discuss the series, there was this from Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns: a discussion about friendship.
Brunson was asked what he discovered about Towns since he arrived in New York on the eve of last season.
“Yeah, he’s been a great teammate,” Brunson said. “He’s been a very great teammate. But most importantly, the person he is is fantastic. Like, he’s a person who is willing to do whatever to kind of help out, whether he knows you well or not. That’s just who his character is, that’s just who he is. That translates on the court.
“I didn’t really know him as well back then. Getting to know him now, it’s an unfair narrative of him, but I truly love that dude and everything he’s done for this team, this city and as a friend. He’s been fantastic.”
And then this was relayed to Towns, who first replied by asking, “Did he say that with Josh [Hart] around or no?”
Told Hart wasn’t there, Towns said, “Ooh, Josh is going to be jealous,” before adding, “I think our friendship is built off of respect. We’ve had so much respect for each other as opponents, and now to be teammates, spending true time with each other as teammates. I’ve always said, we spend more time with each other than our families, our kids.
“So to see who we truly are on a day-to-day basis and how we truly treat people and the things that the media says, is it true, is it not, and you’re getting to see firsthand what the truth really is. I’m glad I’ve been able to not only earn his respect even more as a basketball player, but as a man. For him to appreciate the advice I give him on the daily, in daily life and things I see, it means a lot.”
It’s not the power of friendship that is the key here, but a connectivity that has grown over time together, one that allows the Knicks to flourish without jealousy. It is Towns accepting a role with less shots and scoring, Hart being willing to lead the team in knee burns rather than points and the minutes and heroics shifting from player to player, star players to bench players.
It is a risky endeavor to remake a team that was already experiencing success, having reached the Eastern Conference Finals the season before they were brought together — particularly if you look into the details of the trade that brought Towns to New York. The Knicks gave up a star in Julius Randle, an understandable price to pay to obtain one of the elite offensive centers in the game in Towns.
But they also had to surrender Donte DiVincenzo, a part of a quartet of Villanova alumni who united in New York — even if they never actually got a chance to have all four play together, Mikal Bridges arriving shortly before DiVincenzo departed in the offseason.
Egos could have clashed, chemistry could have been disrupted and the “immaculate vibes” the Knicks boasted about filling their locker room and Madison Square Garden could have been crushed.
But the two stars, Brunson and Towns, have found a friendship and fit, the sort of relationship that helps the team avoid panic at times like this, when the walls could have caved in. Instead, while Knicks coach Mike Brown talked about the officiating and the fan base screamed for Victor Wembanyama to be punished — flagrant foul, technical foul, elbow to the ribs or drawn and quartered — the Knicks players have focused on what they do well together.
They key on what brought them to 13 consecutive postseason wins and put them two victories away from the franchise’s first NBA title in 53 years.
“I think you just get a familiarity and a certain comfort level with those guys,” Hart said. “All of them can go out there and make plays, especially end of shot clock. End of shot clock, JB, I trust Mikal in any end-of-shot-clock, end-of-game situations. Same with OG [Anunoby], KAT. I think it’s more so the trust that’s built and you know where everyone likes the ball and plays for them to execute.”
“I’m a firm believer that you can grow and learn a lot in wins, but you can do the same in losses, too,” Brown said. “We have a veteran group. Nobody is ‘panicking’ or anything like that. Everybody is disappointed that we didn’t go out and execute and play to what we feel our standard is.
“That’s not taking anything away from San Antonio, but we feel like we can play a lot better than what we did. We’re looking forward to going out on the floor and showing it.”
It took time for this to come together. The group has remained mostly intact for two years now, lost a head coach and kept the core of the team in place. They endured a heartbreaking finish last season and the scare from the Hawks three games into this postseason, lessons learned and tucked away.
It seemed like a lesson they forgot Monday in Game 3, but one they seemed focused on bringing back like muscle memory.
“You know, the longer you can keep a group together, I think that’s better,” Brown said. “And it’s kind of always been that to a certain degree. You know, way, way back, the Lakers, they had Karl Malone, I think Gary Payton and a couple other superstars that they threw together one year, and it was hard. Not to say that it can’t be done. I’m sure it’s been done. But the longer the group can stay together, I feel the better chance they have.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
