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New York Knicks star big man Karl-Anthony Towns reportedly hasn’t been happy with the franchise since his involvement in trade rumors last offseason.
According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, the Knicks’ trade discussions with the Milwaukee Bucks regarding Towns and star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo “led to hard feelings” for Towns that team sources say “remain to this day.”
The Knicks acquired Towns from the Minnesota Timberwolves prior to last season, so this isn’t his first time on the market. He remains the subject of trade rumors ahead of the Feb. 5 deadline, but he downplayed his feelings about the ongoing speculation.
“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,” Towns said while speaking to reporters before Wednesday’s 119-92 win over the Toronto Raptors, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “I don’t look at social media or none of that stuff. I focus on the job on hand which is trying to get wins every single night. As long as I do that, I do my job, I go home happy and I feel accomplished. I’m not worried about what anybody got to say or people write or anything like that.”
Towns had eight points, 22 rebounds, two assists and a block against the Raptors. It was his fourth straight game scoring under 20 points, and he’s averaged just 16.0 points for the entire month of January.
Despite all the tumult, Towns made it clear that he’s focused on helping the Knicks chase an NBA championship this season. New York (29-18) will be riding a four-game win streak into Friday’s matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers (23-25).
“We only worry about one thing. That’s winning. So I got no reason to go into depth on anything else,” Towns said. “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.”