{"id":811248,"date":"2026-08-12T15:14:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T15:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/811248\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T15:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T15:14:11","slug":"karl-anthony-towns-takes-ben-stiller-on-his-victory-lap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/811248\/","title":{"rendered":"Karl-Anthony Towns Takes Ben Stiller on His Victory Lap"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Karl-Anthony<\/p>\n

Karl-Anthony Towns wears Coat Burberry. Suit and Shirt Thom Browne. Brooches The Jewelry Library. Watch Karl\u2019s Own.<\/p>\n

For a few surreal weeks this summer, all of New York became one. The Knicks, one of the most cursed franchises in all of sports, turned decades of disappointment into pure delirium, as the city became a collection of packed sports bars and sweaty watch parties. At the center of it all was Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a>, a Jersey kid who came to New York two years ago, and unlike so many of his predecessors, did not melt under the bright lights of Broadway. Instead, he rose to the challenge and played a crucial role in delivering the Knicks their first championship in 53 years. A month later, Towns, who recently got engaged to influencer Jordyn Woods, tells Knicks superfan Ben Stiller<\/a> he still can\u2019t quite believe it happened.<\/p>\n

TUESDAY 4 PM JUL. 14, 2026 NYC<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

BEN STILLER: How are you doing, man?<\/p>\n

KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS: I\u2019m good, man.<\/p>\n

STILLER: Where are you?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: I\u2019m in New York.<\/p>\n

STILLER: Nice to see you.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Nice to see you too. We haven\u2019t seen each other since you was rocking that parade. Rocking that dope shirt, too. I gotta get you the new one.<\/p>\n

STILLER: I\u2019d love that.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Oh, wait, I got to go get my Stiller\u2019s Soda.<\/p>\n

STILLER: I love it.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: If we\u2019re going to do it, let\u2019s do it right.<\/p>\n

STILLER: How has your championship summer been?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: It\u2019s been cool. [Laughs]<\/p>\n

STILLER: [Laughs] It\u2019s been like a month, and you texted me last week saying you keep forgetting you guys won.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: I still do.<\/p>\n

STILLER: What\u2019s that feeling?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: It\u2019s like a decompression, because I\u2019ve chased this goal my entire life. Now you\u2019re telling me I actually did it, and it\u2019s over, and there\u2019s no more basketball games? That doesn\u2019t make sense. When you accomplish something you\u2019ve put your whole life towards, you\u2019re like, \u201cWait, I can\u2019t look forward to that anymore?\u201d<\/p>\n

STILLER: What happens when you finally reach your goal?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: It\u2019s weird. I\u2019m putting all my focus into being a startup businessman, like you.<\/p>\n

STILLER: Do you compartmentalize? Are you able to say, \u201cI\u2019m going to take a month off and not think about basketball?\u201d<\/p>\n

TOWNS: It\u2019s hard. It\u2019s one of the things I\u2019m struggling with. This is the first off-season where I haven\u2019t been able to get that vacation to detach from basketball, because usually you lose in the playoffs. There\u2019s no parade, there\u2019s no celebration.<\/p>\n

STILLER: I have the same feeling. You\u2019re used to the season ending in pain.<\/p>\n

\"Karl<\/p>\n

Jacket and Shirt Thom Browne. Earring and Watch Karl\u2019s Own. Brooch The Jewelry Library.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Yeah. Usually you skip this month of interviews and all the stuff that comes with winning a championship, let alone in New York. You\u2019re getting away from basketball, getting away from the world, resetting as a person, and then coming back from vacation and being like, \u201cWhat do I need to do to get better? How do I take my game to the level needed to win a championship?\u201d<\/p>\n

STILLER: But you did that.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: We did that.<\/p>\n

STILLER: What do you feel most proud of in terms of what you were able to accomplish with this team? Because in my mind as a fan, this was an extremely challenging year for this team, and for you personally.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: I\u2019m proud of making the All-Star Game, because it was such a weird point in our season. We\u2019re two and nine and my stats weren\u2019t exactly the same as last year, so people wondered if it was a drop-off. I was doing good for the average NBA player<\/a>, but I wasn\u2019t at my normal level. I was completely locked in on winning, which I told you all the time. As long as we win, I don\u2019t care. But I was even prouder I kept mentally strong, which has always been my calling card, especially with everything I\u2019ve been through, professionally and as a human.<\/p>\n

STILLER: That was one of the great things you did this year, staying focused and locked in, because I\u2019ve watched so many players come to New York and not be able to do that. And it\u2019s really interesting getting to know you a little, seeing the reality of the ups and downs and having to ride through that. There was such a huge expectation on the team, and you were in this different role, and it felt like the whole team wasn\u2019t gelling until the playoffs, really.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: You\u2019re right.<\/p>\n

STILLER: There\u2019s Christine [Stiller\u2019s wife].<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Hey!<\/p>\n

CHRISTINE TAYLOR: I don\u2019t want to interrupt the interview, but big hugs.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: You just made the interview way better!<\/p>\n

STILLER: That\u2019s right. Much prettier.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: This is your interview now.<\/p>\n

TAYLOR: I\u2019ll be back with some questions.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: No, for real, come back with some questions.<\/p>\n

STILLER: But anyway, it felt to me like everything wasn\u2019t going perfectly, really up until the beginning of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Yeah, it wasn\u2019t. It was always about getting that one percent better. We needed to be our best when it meant the most. We came out looking great in Game 1, but then Game 2 and 3, we didn\u2019t look like ourselves. It showed we still had things we needed to do, even though we gave New York the greatest jump-start of all time by winning Game 1 of the first round against a team we were supposed to have a lot of trouble with. The [Atlanta] Hawks had a young team with a lot to prove.<\/p>\n

STILLER: CJ McCollum all of a sudden having a moment.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: CJ McCollum became Michael Jordan, bald-headed and all! So there was concern for us, because they had a lot of intangible pieces and a good coach. Losing Game 3, the panic button had to get pressed, which is what New York is used to. You\u2019re used to being disappointed as fans. I trusted my experience, I trusted my IQ, and I trusted what I could feel on the court. And I communicated that as a 30-year-old man, not a 21-year-old kid who thinks he knows everything but may not actually know the answer. My experience told me this was exactly what we needed to do to be the best version of ourselves. And I made it known\u2014shoutout to Mike [Brown, the Knicks head coach] for having a great conversation with me. A fierce conversation.<\/p>\n

STILLER: I mean, that [the Knicks\u2019 historic margin of victory in Game 4 of the first round] and Game 4 of the Finals I think were the two biggest\u2014<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Oh my god. Whatever you paid for that ticket, it was worth it.<\/p>\n

STILLER: It was the most incredible game ever. Have you watched it?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: I haven\u2019t watched it and I really need to.<\/p>\n

STILLER: The edits are so amazing.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: I\u2019ve seen the edit of OG [Anunoby] tipping the ball in.<\/p>\n

\"Karl-Anthony<\/p>\n

Jacket Herm\u00e8s. Sweater Thom Browne. T-shirt The Society Archive. Hat J.R. Malpere. Brooches The Jewelry Library.<\/p>\n

STILLER: Okay, let\u2019s talk about that.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Shit, I want to talk about it too, Ben. [Laughs] I told him, \u201cEither I get your right hand cast in clay for my house, or I\u2019m going to get a painting done and put it in my house.\u201d You think I\u2019m playing? It\u2019s the greatest play ever.<\/p>\n

STILLER: The greatest play ever. But what I also see when I watch it over and over again is, if it had not gone in, you were right up on that.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: I was dunking it.<\/p>\n

STILLER: If that hadn\u2019t gone in, you were putting it in.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Oh my god, I was going to dunk it.<\/p>\n

STILLER: It\u2019s probably going to be the most famous play in Knicks history.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Do you think me hitting the ball on the inbound pass goes down as the most underrated play in Knicks history?<\/p>\n

STILLER: One hundred percent. Because first of all, people didn\u2019t realize it.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: And I never even mentioned it.<\/p>\n

STILLER: What an incredibly important sequence in Knicks history. How\u2019s your dad doing?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: He\u2019s good. He asked about you yesterday.<\/p>\n

STILLER: How does he feel about this son doing this?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Oh, you already know how he feels.<\/p>\n

STILLER: Are you excited to get married?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: I\u2019m so excited.<\/p>\n

STILLER: It\u2019s the best. I\u2019m 25, 26 years in.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: I can\u2019t wait to get to that. I\u2019m super happy, man. But you know what\u2019s crazy? Y\u2019all still give such youthful energy to each other. It\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n

STILLER: I remember talking to you earlier in the year, when it didn\u2019t seem like the team was totally gelling, and you were like, \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a two-ring summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

TOWNS: [Laughs] I was trying to tell you.<\/p>\n

STILLER: I was like, \u201cI\u2019m glad he\u2019s so confident,\u201d but you really were confident. Do you ever have self-doubt?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: I don\u2019t let it enter my brain. Negativity is the root of failure.<\/p>\n

STILLER: How do you do that?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Be mentally strong. I believe I\u2019m always getting better. Every year I\u2019ve shown I\u2019m better than last year, and this year I was the most complete version of myself.I just kept my head down and got to work, and at the end of the day, we\u2019re looking at championship newspapers being sold for $30.<\/p>\n

STILLER: Insane.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: You know I walked into a newsstand to get some and the guy was like, \u201cWe can only do five.\u201d I was like, \u201cCan I get more than five?\u201d And he goes, \u201cNo more than five.\u201d There was a big line and they all started cursing him out like, \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d Then he had the nerve to ask me for a photo right after.<\/p>\n

STILLER: Of course. That\u2019s New York. What\u2019s it like walking down the street in New York City right now?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: I feel like you in the Tropic Thunder zoo, where it\u2019s like, oh my god.<\/p>\n

STILLER: I remember being in my first successful movie, but this is another level. I can\u2019t imagine you can go five feet without somebody\u2014<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Yeah, but if I could ever be as cool as Tugg Speedman [Stiller\u2019s character in Tropic Thunder], this would be fire. I\u2019m having moments after winning it where I felt like I was Tugg Speedman. I was like, \u201cMan, I may be the one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Karl-Anthony<\/p>\n

Coat Canada Goose. Jacket Loro Piana. Shirt Herm\u00e8s. Jeans Thom Browne. Brooch The Jewelry Library. Watch Karl\u2019s Own.<\/p>\n

STILLER: Do you ever say, \u201cI\u2019m going to go take a walk because I want a little adulation and love from the world\u201d?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: I get excited to go back to the places I always go, where me and Jordyn have brunch and stuff. Now you go back with the championship in hand, and it\u2019s more just to see the people who have served us all this food through the good and the bad, because now they\u2019re getting to see the best. It\u2019s nice to see them and say, \u201cAppreciate you for sticking with me. Maybe I didn\u2019t play my best game, but you didn\u2019t treat me any different. You actually gave me more love, and I appreciate that.\u201d It\u2019s tough to be an athlete. The highs are high and the lows are low.<\/p>\n

STILLER: I bet. And how do you take that into next year? Do you wipe the slate clean?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Nah, I just get to work. I\u2019m actually excited to go chase a second one. Of course every champion is going to say, \u201cWhy can\u2019t I do it again?\u201d But this team actually can do it again.<\/p>\n

STILLER: Let me ask you some fun questions.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Okay.<\/p>\n

STILLER: I\u2019ve heard Jalen [Brunson] listens to Justin Bieber before games. Who do you listen to?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Mac Miller. He was one of my best friends. It wasn\u2019t even about making music. It was like, \u201cJust come over, let\u2019s have pizza and chill outside, talk and laugh and play games.\u201d He was so integral to my youth, and we were so close in age, making it cool to grow up with someone whose art I really appreciated. And Drake.<\/p>\n

STILLER: There\u2019s something interesting about creativity, because there\u2019s creativity in what you do. Do you think about how to be creative as a player?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Absolutely I do. Sorry, I just saw Timmy [Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet] onscreen repping France.<\/p>\n

STILLER: Oh, is he?<\/p>\n

TOWNS: And France is losing. He looks so disappointed. [Laughs] This is the first time he\u2019s been disappointed since when?<\/p>\n

STILLER: How me and him ended up near you guys after you won was literally\u2014<\/p>\n

TOWNS: He learned what I learned: Champagne hurts when it gets in your eyes. It hurts so bad.<\/p>\n

STILLER: [Laughs] That was a crazy, surreal hour of my life.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: I have obviously never won a championship before, but what was crazy was when they kept telling me, \u201cKarl, you got to go back.\u201d I\u2019m on the court and they were trying to grab me. And I\u2019m like, \u201cWhat the hell? Coach wants me in the back?\u201d They were trying to tell me to rush to the back because they had already started celebrating in the locker room, butI would not leave until I saw Jordyn coming with me.<\/p>\n

STILLER: We got a great shot of you guys hugging on the film camera. It starts tight on you and then it\u2019s this long, slow zoom out. It\u2019s the most romantic thing. It\u2019s like the end of Rocky.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: I have to see that.<\/p>\n

STILLER: It felt like that. Listen, I will see you soon. Congrats. You just did something amazing and I\u2019m glad you\u2019re enjoying it.<\/p>\n

TOWNS: Man, great to talk to you. Anytime you need me, just call me.<\/p>\n

STILLER: Alright, I\u2019ll see you very soon.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Groomer: Scott McMahan using Dior Beauty at Honey Artists.<\/p>\n

Barber: Ezell Hunter.<\/p>\n

Photo Assistant: Etienne Pelissier.<\/p>\n

Styling Assistant: Sophia Ozan.<\/p>\n

Production Director: Alexandra Weiss.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photo Producer: Georgia Ford.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Post Production: Blythe Cross.<\/p>\n

Location: Upstairs At Eric\u2019s.<\/p>\n

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