Happy 31st Birthday, Karl-Anthony Towns: Celebrating KAT's Career Highlights
Sunday, November 15, is Karl-Anthony Towns' 31st birthday. This is the first time he celebrates it as an NBA champion.
Towns grew up in Edison, New Jersey, about 30 miles from Madison Square Garden. He was a No. 1 overall pick, and in June he helped end the Knicks' 53-year wait for a title. Here's a look back at his career.
The making of KAT
- Kentucky to No. 1: Towns played one season at Kentucky. The Minnesota Timberwolves took him first overall in the 2015 NBA Draft.
- Rookie of the Year (2016): He won Rookie of the Year and made the All-Rookie First Team.
- Skills Challenge champion (2016): As a rookie, Towns beat point guard Isaiah Thomas to win the All-Star Weekend Skills Challenge. He was the tallest, heaviest and youngest winner in the event's history, and he showed early that a 7-footer could play like a guard.
- A first in league history (2016–17): In his second season he scored 2,061 points, grabbed 1,007 rebounds and made 101 threes. No other player has ever reached 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 100 threes in one season.
Minnesota star
- First All-Star and All-NBA (2018): Towns made his first All-Star Game and his first All-NBA Third Team in 2017–18.
- The 60-point night (2022): Against San Antonio, Towns scored a franchise-record 60 points with 17 rebounds. That made him one of four players in the last 50 years with a 60-point, 15-rebound game. The others are Karl Malone, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal.
- First center to win the 3-Point Contest (2022): At All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, Towns became the first center ever to win the 3-Point Contest. He scored a record 29 points in the final round. He also made his second All-NBA Third Team that season.
- Back to the conference finals (2024): Towns led Minnesota to the 2024 Western Conference Finals, the franchise's first trip there in 20 years. He left Minnesota second on the Timberwolves' all-time scoring list.
Welcome to New York
The Knicks traded for Towns just before the 2024–25 season. He made an impact right away.
- 46 points against Chicago, shooting 60% from the field.
- 32 points and 20 rebounds in his first game back at Target Center in Minnesota.
- Eastern Conference Player of the Month for December: The Knicks went 12–2 that month, and Towns averaged 23.2 points, 14.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.
- All-Star starter (2025): He started the 2025 All-Star Game for the East. In February he scored 40 or more in back-to-back games, a feat that puts him alongside Knicks greats like Patrick Ewing and Carmelo Anthony.
- First Knicks triple-double: 26 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists against Dallas.
- Third All-NBA selection (2025): He made his third All-NBA Third Team. He also helped the Knicks reach the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to Indiana in six games.
2025–26: The championship season
NBA Cup champions (December 16, 2025). In Las Vegas, the Knicks came back to beat the San Antonio Spurs 124–113 and win the Emirates NBA Cup. It was the franchise's first trophy since 1973. Towns played through a leg injury and finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 2 steals.
Sixth All-Star selection. Towns made his sixth All-Star team in 2026. Over 75 regular-season games he averaged 20.1 points, 11.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists, and the Knicks finished 53–29.
NBA champions (June 13, 2026). After going down 2–1 to Atlanta in the first round, the Knicks won 13 games in a row. They beat the Spurs in five games in the NBA Finals. In Game 4 they came back from 29 points down, the largest comeback in Finals history. They closed out the series 94–90 in San Antonio. It was the Knicks' first championship since 1973, and they became the first team to win the NBA Cup and the NBA title in the same season.
In Game 5, Towns scored only two points but grabbed 10 rebounds and anchored the defense inside. After 11 seasons in the league, he finally won a title. He later said the championship did a lot of healing for New York City as a whole, and that it meant a lot to see Knicks legends like Ewing enjoy it too.
KAT's career honors
- 🏆 NBA champion (2026)
- 🏆 NBA Cup champion (2025)
- ⭐ 6× NBA All-Star (2018, 2019, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026)
- 🏅 3× All-NBA Third Team (2018, 2022, 2025)
- 🎯 3-Point Contest champion (2022), the first center to win it
- 🆕 Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie First Team (2016)
- 🏀 Skills Challenge champion (2016)
- 📅 Eastern Conference Player of the Month (December 2024)
- 🥇 Centrobasket gold medal with the Dominican Republic (2012)
The birthday game
The Knicks play at the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, November 15, at 6:00 PM ET, on Towns' birthday. The two teams meet again in Toronto on Tuesday, November 17.
Happy birthday, KAT! 🎂🧡💙
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