SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KWTX) — A Central Texas family’s business trip turned into a once-in-a-lifetime experience when they found themselves sharing a hotel with the New York Knicks on the day the team won the NBA championship.
Josh Satterfield, his wife Lauren, and their three sons — Jack, 17, William, 11, and Ben, 14 — were staying at La Cantera Resort in San Antonio for a financial advisors conference. The Satterfields were among 40 local advisors and families from the Waco, Temple and Killeen area attending the event.
The family arrived Wednesday afternoon. The Knicks arrived Thursday evening.
“We came out of lunch one day and this nice man said ‘would you guys like to meet my son’ and we were like ‘who is your son?’ And it turns out it was Karl-Anthony Towns’ dad,” Josh Satterfield said.
Meeting KAT
Towns, who goes by KAT, had just finished chapel down the hallway. The family went in and texted their other sons and nephew, who came to meet the player.
“He was so gracious and took a picture and even gave an autograph for my youngest son William and just could not have been nicer,” Josh Satterfield said. “As we left he said ‘God Bless you’ and we wished them luck.”
Towns was selected with the first overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The family also met and got pictures with players Jose Alvarado, Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson.
“What surprised me was just how accessible they were throughout the weekend,” Josh Satterfield said. “We would see them walking around the hallways with their families.”
Championship day encounters
One of the Satterfield sons saw Hart in the hotel’s convenience store getting items for his family. Lauren Satterfield worked out in the gym alongside five Knicks players the day of the final game.
Lauren later saw the players sitting down with coaches and heard them going over game scenarios on their laptops.
“I saw one player being coached on what to do if they were tied or down by one in a certain situation,” Lauren Satterfield said.
“I thought it was neat how each player was having a meeting with a laptop with a coach next to him,” he said.
Former Knicks players including Patrick Ewing were also at the hotel.
Personal connection
Josh Satterfield shared with some players about a colleague battling cancer who is a Knicks fan that was supposed to be at the same conference but stayed behind battling illness. The players signed autographs for his friend.
“When we had that encounter with Karl-Anthony Towns, I kind of shared that with him and we took a selfie and sent it to him and he told him he was sending his thoughts and prayers as well,” Josh Satterfield said.
The family watched Game 4 from La Cantera. The Knicks rallied from 29 points down to win at Madison Square Garden in the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history.
The Knicks won the championship in Game 5 in San Antonio. The team had won all three games played in San Antonio, including the first two to take a commanding 2-0 lead to start the series.
“I was very excited to be there because I’ve never seen a celebrity before and getting to see them was pretty cool,” Jack Satterfield said.
William Satterfield said he and his brothers were coming back from the arcade when they saw Hart.
“We decided to get some ice cream, and we saw Josh Hart and we were super surprised, and we went up and said can we get a picture and he let us take a picture,” William Satterfield said.
Ben Satterfield said the experience made him root for the team.
“It made me want to root for them in the last game because of how nice they were to us, and it was really cool seeing them on tv after we met them in person,” he said.
Copyright 2026 KWTX. All rights reserved.