Karl-Anthony Towns' relationship with Knicks teammates may be strained, hints former NBA champion

A few weeks ago, Karl-Anthony Towns missed a game between the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors due to personal reasons. Draymond Green made controversial comments about the center’s absence, which led to a strong response from Knicks star Josh Hart. Now, a former NBA champion has speculated on how the relationship between Towns and his teammates might be unfolding.

During a conversation on All The Smoke, Matt Barnes shared his thoughts on the recent Knicks-Warriors game that featured the face-to-face reunion of Towns and Green. “New York loses, KAT heads to the locker room, and then you see a bunch of his teammates dapping up Draymond,” he pointed out.

“If I’m KAT, whether I say something or not, I’m looking at all these (expletive) that were dapping up the dude that was dogging me for the last two weeks, like, damn, is that how y’all feel?,” the former Los Angeles Lakers forward remarked. “What that tells me is, are they really riding with KAT like that?”

Barnes went on to dive deeper into the post-game behavior of the New York players, stating: “If someone is dogging KAT and then after the game, the person that’s dogging KAT is getting bro love from the team—if I’m KAT, I’m kind of looking at these (expletive) like, what’s the deal?“

Matt Barnes playing with the Memphis Grizzlies on February 29, 2016.

Barnes makes strong statement about Towns’ personality

While Barnes expressed admiration for Towns’ talent, he also offered a pointed assessment of the center’s mindset. “I love KAT. I think KAT is probably one of the most talented players in the league,” Matt said. However, he quickly added: “His issue is he’s a cat—he’s not a dog.”

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Expanding on this, the 2017 NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors elaborated, “Still skilled, still will be a Hall of Famer, still an All-Star, but he’s just not a dog.” He then referenced Green, noting: “I think Draymond can see that, sniff it out, and he attacks.”

Barnes questions Knicks’ loyalty to Towns

In the final part of his commentary, Barnes questioned the behavior of the New York Knicks players, using his own NBA experience as a benchmark. “You know, I was someone who lost probably $600,000 worth of shit for taking up for my teammates,” he recalled.

“Obviously, Draymond has smoke with KAT… So if someone has smoke with my teammate and there’s real smoke, it’s smoke. Period,” Barnes concluded, emphasizing that his response to the situation would have been far different than that of the Knicks players.