Amidst New York Knicks All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns' trade rumors ahead of the deadline, including a report linked to Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo, the All-Star forward isn't peeved. In fact, he used to it, he says, as Towns has been the subject of trade rumors often throughout his career.
Towns addressed his trade rumors before a 119-92 Knicks blowout win against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, per The New York Post's Stefan Bondy.
“I feel like I’ve been in trade rumors a lot for a lot of times, for a year, damn near. That don’t matter to me,” said Towns, who was traded from the Timberwolves to the Knicks before last season. “I don’t look at social media or none of that stuff. I focus on the job at hand, which is trying to get wins every single night. As long as I do that, I do my job, I go home happ,y and I feel accomplished. I’m not worried about what anybody got to say or people write or anything like that.”
For Karl-Anthony Towns, his focus remains on winning for the Knicks.
“We only worry about one thing. That’s winning. So I got no reason to go into depth on anything else,” said Towns. “It’s just at the end of the day the conversations revolve around one thing and one thing only every single day, 24 hours a day — is winning.
“How can we win? How can I help this team win? The sacrifices I’ve got to continue to make every single night for us to be the best version of ourselves. I’ve been willing to do that every single night, regardless of what anyone talks about.”
Perhaps Towns' longstanding relationship with Knicks president Leon Rose, who represented KAT as his agent, is the source to why he's not worried about a potential trade ahead of next week's deadline, or he's attempting to change the narrative surrounding New York's chances of winning a title this season. Either way, Towns isn't worried.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo reportedly wants to join Knicks
Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) dribbles as New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) defends during the second half at Madison Square Garden
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The latest rumors surrounding Bucks All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo wanting to join the Knicks has fans excited in The Big Apple. For a passionate generation of fans that's only seen their Knicks reach the NBA Finals once in nearly three decades, Antetokounmpo would love to change that, according to FanDuel TV's Michelle Beadle.
“It was over two years ago that we said this was going to happen, no big deal,” Beadle said. “By the way that was from the horse’s mouth over two plus years ago at a charity event when Giannis said, ‘I'd love to be a Knick.’ Couldn’t say it then, we could say it now. That’s how I got that information.”
The NBA trade deadline is February 5.