The first person Karl-Anthony Towns brought up on Sunday when asked about his first home game as a Knick was his father, and that is nothing new.
Towns’ parents, Karl-Anthony Towns Sr. and Jackie Cruz Towns, have always been an inextricable part of his story.
His father is still a high school coach in New Jersey, at the school his son once played at.
His mom, who died of COVID-19 in 2020, has the court at Kean University named after her.
His parents — the way they sacrificed for his basketball career — are always on his mind, and if he forgets, the No. 32 is there on Towns’ jersey to remind him, the same number his dad wore.
That is unchanged by playing close to home.
What’s different is the number of family members in the stands at Madison Square Garden.
“A lot,” Towns said Sunday. “A lot. A lot. A lot.”
This is the practical reality of a homecoming — family going from front of his mind in Minneapolis to front of his eyes on Broadway.
“It’s special to be around family more often,” Towns said. “My niece and nephew being able to be at more of my games and being able to see them grow up on my off-days. It’s really special. Definitely special to be back home.”
Towns, who went for 21 points and 15 rebounds while throwing down a thunderous dunk in his home debut — a Knicks win over the Pacers — is perhaps the biggest piece of a Knicks team trying to simultaneously figure out its identity and establish itself atop the Eastern Conference.
He is playing for a coach in Tom Thibodeau who was with him for over two years in Minneapolis and who has noticed a change from the 23-year-old he last coached in 2018-19.
“Just the maturity,” Thibodeau said. “He’s obviously a lot stronger. I coached him a few years ago — I think all of his experiences have helped him. The ups and downs, the playoffs, to go from where they were when he was drafted as the No. 1 player in the draft to having big expectations to the point where they got to the conference finals [last season] and just playing winning basketball. I think those experiences have served him well.
“He continues to get better, which I think is important. To continue to make those strides, you’re never a finished product. Just keep learning and growing.”
There was some concern, after how things ended in Minnesota, that Towns might clash with Thibodeau. At this early juncture, that has not happened.
“Sometimes, timing is important, too,” Thibodeau said. “I think you can have a player when they’re young in their career, they want to get themselves established first. I think as they mature and get older, they realize it’s very difficult to do individually. You have to do it collectively. And I think that’s where most players go. They tend to trend that way.
“You look at every good team, you realize there are sacrifices that have to be made. There’s focus that has to be had. There’s discipline, there’s unselfishness and I think Karl has certainly shown that over the years.”
Towns laughed off a question about whether Thibodeau had changed in kind, saying that he’s now grown a beard.
As for himself, though?
“Of course,” he said. “Life has definitely changed for me. I’ve grown as a man. I’ve grown as a man not only walking this earth, but a man of faith. Especially on a Sunday that we’re talking, it’s a special feeling to feel that kind of blessing and presence in my life.”
Being home is its own kind of blessing.
“It’s an amazing feeling to be with a lot of my family there [at The Garden],” Towns said. “Especially my father.”