The New York Knicks fell to a 94-97 loss to the Golden State Warriors on the road on Saturday, as Golden State continues tearing through opponents in the Jimmy Butler era. That matchup wound up being about two other players, as Karl-Anthony Towns and Draymond Green met on the court after a few controversial comments from Green in recent weeks.
During the game, Towns and Green kept jawing, with leaked audio showing how the two were aggressively sniping at each other.
Draymond Green: “He’s soft… soft a** n****.”
Karl-Anthony Towns: “F*ck out of here, hoe a** n****.”
Draymond Green: (after KAT picked up his 3rd foul) “That’s three, take him out.”
Karl-Anthony Towns: “Shut your b*tch a** up… you a hoe.”
This was a great game for Towns, who tried sending Draymond a message with his 29 points (12-31 FG) and 12 rebounds. Draymond had a muted nine points, four rebounds, and three assists, but he did his part in ensuring the Warriors picked up the win.
He spoke on Towns after the game, praising the Knicks center for the physicality he played with, seemingly giving a backhanded compliment.
“It was good to see KAT show up and play like that. He played hard, played well. He was physical. Probably the most physical I’ve ever seen him. Had a little extra motivation, so that made the game really fun. That was great.”
Draymond is continuing to get under Towns’ skin, especially with the pair likely not facing off again this season unless they meet in the NBA Finals. That looks unlikely from both sides, but it’s clear this is a real rivalry between the two frontcourt stars.
Timeline Of The Beef Between Draymond Green And Karl-Anthony Towns
This tension between Green and Towns started after Green erroneously said on his podcast that Towns missed the Knicks game against the Warriors because he was ‘ducking’ Jimmy Butler after their shared history on the Timberwolves.
“The Timberwolves didn’t have KAT and some would say he didn’t play because Jimmy [Butler] was in the building. I saw KAT’s Pops yesterday at the game and it’s always love, I got mad love for the OG. Yeah, but they said [Karl-Anthony Towns] ain’t play because Jimmy came into town and you know him and Jimmy had the infamous practice in Minnesota. Maybe that’s a thing.”
This turned out to be not only wrong but also incredibly insensitive. Towns had taken a personal day to be with his family, who were at a funeral for a close friend. Naturally, Draymond issued an apology after learning the truth, although it seemed a little disingenuous.
“Oh man, that’s unfortunate. I’m sorry to hear that. That sucks. What I heard was what I heard… I send well wishes to him and his family. We all experience death in one way or another, and we’ll experience it in the same way one day. So it’s unfortunate. I never wish that on anybody. But the Draymond Green Show must go on. I wish him and their family well. We all go through that, and it’s never easy for anyone.”
Towns is choosing to move on, letting his performances do the talking. He’s averaging 24.3 points and 13.1 rebounds this season, hoping to help the Knicks retain the No. 3 seed despite Jalen Brunson’s current absence.
