The New York Knicks once again failed to make the NBA Finals after falling short against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. And to nobody’s surprise, the New York media is not exactly taking it well with Carl Banks and WFAN’s Gregg Giannotti now trading fire after the host’s rant at Karl-Anthony Towns.
In case you missed it, Giannotti called Towns a “loser” in spite of averaging 24.8 PPG, 12.2 RPG, and shot 50% from the field in the conference finals. Yes, even Towns would admit that sometimes he makes some boneheaded plays and fouls. But his overall performance in the series was a plus for the Knicks, including scoring 20 points in the fourth quarter in Game 3 to lead a comeback victory.
Still though, that wasn’t enough for Gregg Giannotti who torched him on Monday.
.@GioWFAN went off on “loser” Karl-Anthony Towns 👀 pic.twitter.com/5cvIgYeTBD
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) June 2, 2025
That rant has drawn the ire of another prominent New York athlete and radio personality in Carl Banks. The former Giants legend and radio analyst has had his own run-ins with WFAN before. In 2023, he had a high profile exit from weekly appearances with Sal Licata and Brandon Tierney after an on-air fracas.
Banks called out Giannotti in a post on X, calling his rant “genuinely pathetic” and telling the WFAN morning host “try being a better human.”
This is genuinely pathetic. Calling a man you’ve never met a ‘loser’ says far more about you than it ever could about him. I’ve known Kat and his family since he was a kid—there’s absolutely nothing about him that resembles a loser. Try being a better human instead of… https://t.co/8UReorWWqP
— Carl Banks (@CarlBanksGIII) June 2, 2025
That post drew a quote tweet from longtime New York football writer Gary Myers, which then garnered a response from Giannotti himself taking a shot at Myers instead of Banks and defending his rant against Karl-Anthony Towns as not being personal.
What I said about towns isn’t a personal shot. Go back and listen. It’s all about basketball. A personal shot is me saying something like: “Gary, you’re an idiot for not understanding what I was saying and everyone who talks to me about you thinks you’re a complete asshole.”
— Gregg Giannotti (@GioWFAN) June 3, 2025
Clearly there’s no love lost between Carl Banks and WFAN and it’s this kind of thing that led to his departure from making regular weekly appearances on the station. But while Gregg Giannotti is defending his criticism of Karl-Anthony Towns, it’s hard to say it’s not a personal shot when you call someone a loser, isn’t it?
Could you imagine what the reaction would be if Towns put up Juan Soto numbers against the Pacers? They may have pulled WFAN’s broadcast license for what could have been unleashed and led to an all out Anchorman style New York media street fight.