Karl-Anthony Towns has had a strong first season with the Knicks, but he rubbed some New York fans the wrong way Wednesday night.
The veteran center is very proud of his northern New Jersey roots, which gives him a special connection with his new fanbase. Still, the 29-year-old kept one part of his childhood that doesn’t vibe with Knicks fans, and he put it on display in Philadelphia.
Here’s why Towns went viral during the Knicks’ 125-119 road win Wednesday over the 76ers, even though he spent the game on the bench.
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Karl-Anthony Towns Eagles shirt
Towns missed Wednesday’s game against the 76ers with a sprained thumb, meaning he was in street clothes on the bench. Instead of being in Knicks gear, however, Towns wore an Eagles shirt as the Knicks played in Philadelphia.
KAT, a born and bred Eagles fan, is repping the birds on the Knicks bench tonight in Philly 👀 pic.twitter.com/GP8oCR3AJx
— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) January 16, 2025
While Towns was simply representing his favorite team, he ended up annoying his own fanbase. Of course, many Knicks fans are New York Giants fans, which means they hate the NFC East rival Eagles.
The visual gained traction on social media, as Knicks fans expressed their disappointment with the center’s fashion choice.
KAT wearing an Eagles shirt while his team plays the 76ers at home is wild pic.twitter.com/BpRhUJsOPB
— Bryan (@DayzCanTweet) January 16, 2025
KAT with that Eagles gear on. #Knicks pic.twitter.com/MBMCgLi54a
— 🅷🅴🅲♐️ (@Hec718) January 16, 2025
Please don’t tell me I’m seeing Karl Anthony Towns wearing an Eagles sweater
— Justin Penik (@JustinPenik) January 16, 2025
Towns from NY reppin the Eagles smdh
— Lil Laker Boy (@eville4lyf) January 16, 2025
When the Knicks went back to the locker room at halftime, Towns must have seen the criticism, because he changed his shirt for the second half. Instead, Towns finished the game wearing a Knicks shirt in an apparent attempt to ease the online chatter.
How it started vs How it’s going
Karl-Anthony Towns had to change out his Eagles sweater for a Knicks shirt. 😂 pic.twitter.com/yVb4u1V61y
— Complex (@Complex) January 16, 2025
While Knicks fans were disappointed in Towns’ decision to wear Eagles gear, teammate Jalen Brunson wasn’t. In fact, the team’s star was upset that Towns switched shirts at halftime — perhaps because Brunson is himself a lifelong Eagles fan.
“If it was me, I would’ve kept it on,” Brunson told ESPN after the game.
“If it was me, I would have kept it on.”
—Jalen Brunson after KAT changed out of his Eagles sweater in Philly 😂 pic.twitter.com/Rh97JEtzoZ
— ESPN (@espn) January 16, 2025
Towns finally cleared the air on social media, where he said he didn’t change due to the criticism, instead admitting that he had sweat stains on the previous shirt.
Aye twitter,
Sweat stains ain’t it on ESPN. Had to pull another fit out!
anyways…GO BIRDS 🦅😤
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) January 16, 2025
As for the Knicks-76ers game, New York won a close one, 125-119 in overtime, despite Towns missing the action. Brunson scored 38 as the Villanova product led the way for New York.
Is Karl-Anthony Towns an Eagles fan?
Towns is very public about his Eagles fandom, which came up when he was playing with the Timberwolves. In 2018, the Eagles played the Vikings in the NFC championship game. At the time, Towns made it known that he was rooted for Philadelphia over Minnesota with a Super Bowl appearance on the line — and that paid off, as the Eagles won the NFC title and then the Super Bowl over the Patriots.
“I’m an Eagles fan since I was young,” Towns told ESPN. “I’m always going to stay loyal to my team. Regardless of what happened that game, I was winning both ways. I was going to have a huge amount of support for the Vikings if they won, obviously was going to have support for the Eagles if they won. It was a win-win for me.”
