Knicks Star Reveals Weight Loss in Preparation for Changing Role

The NBA regular season's commencement still sits several weeks away, and Karl-Anthony Towns has already begun sacrificing for the New York Knicks.

His fit with the rest of the team in his debut season in New York didn't go as seamlessly as it could have, even if he invited an occasional-five-out charm to the team that they previously lacked. He, along with fellow newcomer Mikal Bridges, showed their potential as secondary and tertiary scorers next to Jalen Brunson, but the relative lack of ball-movement made their offense predictable while the Towns-anchored defense suffered.

What came of the campaign was a team that had the talent to contend for titles, but they lacked the proper focus and creativity to properly utilize everyone at the team's disposal.

The summer invited change, and in came new head coach Mike Brown with some of his own ideas as to how to unlock all of his new weapons. He's spent the preseason flirting with promoting backup center Mitchell Robinson to a starting role, moving Towns into a new Knicks role, and the All-Star's adjusted accordingly.

He's reportedly dropped weight in expecting to see more time at power forward this season, according to Steve Popper. The shift not only signals how seriously he's taking his sophomore season with the Knicks following an up-and-down maiden voyage, but also seems like another indicator of the Robinson-infused starting lineup that fans have been quietly preparing for.

Though the Knicks wouldn't be able to deploy as many respectable perimeter threats as they'd like with Robinson and Towns out there together, the non-shooting center and his pick-and-roll skills are arguably more valuable to the pace-and-space-oriented Knicks than previous-fifth starter Josh Hart and his inefficient 3-ball would be. Teams have to respect the big man's rolling ability in a way they didn't have to provide to Hart's jumper, with Robinson's defense pushing him even further ahead in building his case's momentum.

New York Knicks Centers Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinso — Mar 26, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) is restrained by center Mitchell Robinson (23) in the fourth quarter against the LA Clippers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Towns isn't agile enough to contain some of the star power forward he'll now be regularly matched up against, but he'll be much less destructive there than he was as the low man on last year's underperforming defense.

The Knicks can expect a versatile big man room, now threatening to throw another big floor-spacer in Guerschon Yabusele and Robinson heir Ariel Hukporti at opposing bench units with seemingly-never-ending frontcourt size. Towns, who gained some valuable experience alongside a similarly rim-reliant center in Rudy Gobert at his previous stop with Minnesota Timberwolves, looks to dip back into what worked in his recent past.

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