Carmelo Anthony Airs Concern About Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns

Head coach Mike Brown hasn't been happy with his slow processing speed or his occasionally taking plays off at critical in-game junctions, and his squad's most recent embarrassing loss to the Dallas Mavericks could very easily produce even more colorful quotes. But even before that throttling, one notable voice pinpointed Towns' questionable approach to the dog days.

Carmelo Anthony's finely-tuned his post-career brand to his mid-2010s run in New York, and it's not like he had any shortage of teams to choose from over a 19-year, Hall of Fame career. He frequently pops up at games, and elaborated on some concerns he has with Towns' mindset using his platform as an analysts for NBC Sports.

"KAT shot an airball in the fourth [quarter] the other day and I said 'Its over with, leave it alone. Onto the next.' He looked back and said 'Aight, I got you OG.' For him to shoot that airball and acknowledge what I said in that moment, you're thinking about that. You cannot think like that throughout the game because now you're worrying about what people are saying about you," he said.

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Towns' mental toughness has remained vocally critiqued ever since his days as an up-and-comer with the Minnesota Timberwolves, when he'd take himself out of important games with ill-timed fouls and poor shots that revealed unshakable frustration. In all likelihood, his inability to break free of his season-long slump may just go back to an inability to shake off the troubles and move on.

All season long, Towns has looked like a noticeably diminished version of the star who thrived in his first Knicks season. Just last season, he enjoyed one of his best statistical scoring seasons as a stretch big who could operate with ease in space, but his touch around the rim and from the perimeter has been all over the place since the fall.

He's played no small role in the Knicks' poor start to 2026, and Anthony may have just the answer to his and the Knicks' lull. They have to get out of their own way before they can snap back into shape, which mean more attentive defense and the sharp attention to detail that they demonstrated in prior months. A return to the mean out of one of New York's star options could be just the kick in the pants that the locker room needs to feel like itself again.