Karl-Anthony Towns’ Knicks goals go far beyond making All-Star history
NY Post
The two Knicks named to the starting lineup of the All-Star Game next month have their eyes on also joining Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe in a far more historical classification.
Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns became the first Knicks teammates to be tabbed as starters for the Eastern Conference — for the Feb. 26 showcase event in San Francisco — since Clyde and The Pearl did so five decades earlier in 1975.
Of course, that Hall of Fame duo also comprised the starting backcourt for the Knicks on the franchise’s most recent NBA championship squad two years before that in 1973.
“For sure, it’s a huge honor to be selected to the All-Star team. All-Star selections are an amazing honor. But rings are cooler, so we’ll try to do that,” Towns said after practice Friday in Tarrytown. “It’s super special to even be mentioned with names like that.
“I grew up in this area [in New Jersey] and to have my name close to their names is something you just dream about when you’re young. So I’m super-honored, to say the least. And I’m just really happy to have the opportunity to represent my teammates because they’re the reason that we’re able to do this.
The 29-year-old Towns, who has scored 25.0 points per game and ranks second in the NBA in rebounds (13.9), will be making his first career start among five All-Star appearances.
This was near the end of a magnificent American life, and he’d been battling lung and prostate cancer for some time, but Pee Wee Reese was absolutely going to get in the car and make the drive from Louisville to Kansas City. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum was honoring his dear friend Jackie Robinson, and Reese knew that meant seeing so many friends from the old days.
The pity is, at this point, the greatness we are watching in real time is threatened every week to be reduced to a footnote. We are witnesses to history, to the rarest form of extended success in a time of professional sport that’s supposed to be ruled by parity. But every year we have to deal with something else first.