Nets' Josh Minott Hopes to 'Anger' Knicks' All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns

The two were teammates with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Mar 20, 2026; Brooklyn, New York, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) reacts after a basket during the first half against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets nearly pulled off an upset over their crosstown rivals on Friday night and earn their first victory against the New York Knicks for the first time since Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving jumped ship.

The Nets' defense was all over Knicks' All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, frustrating the latter by bodying him up down low and stripping the ball out of his hands each time he got great positioning.

On one possession, Towns had Nic Claxton beat in the post, but Josh Minott came in flying from the weak side to swat the ball out of the Kentucky product's hands, encapsulating just how well the Nets were able to frustrate the former Minnesota Timberwolves big man.

“I played with KAT for two-and-a-half years," Minott said. "I know him like this, and he don’t like physicality. I love KAT, but he don’t like physicality. That’s my boy, too. I hope this angers him. But we were just real connected on bringing that physicality to him. He started snapping in the second half. He’s a really talented player. But we were gonna do everything in our power to stop him.”

Minott is not alone in his assessment, and there are certainly a lot of times Towns complains to refs about the lack of foul calls whenever he fights through contact. Towns also ends up frustrating a lot of his team's fans for committing unnecessary fouls and going ice cold from the field for large stretches of games.

However, it's worth noting that Towns is consistently among the league's best rebounders and really took it to Nikola Jokić defensively in the Timberwolves' second-round playoff series win against the Denver Nuggets in 2024, absorbing all of his blows while keeping the three-time MVP as far away from the basket as possible.

Are there times the All-NBA big man can assert himself a bit more throughout games? Sure, but this is also the same player who scored 20 points in the fourth quarter of the Knicks' comeback win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals last season against the Indiana Pacers.

I don’t want to dismiss Minott’s perspective — he shared both the court and locker room with Towns. However, given the injuries and personal tragedy Towns has endured in recent years, there’s something to be said for how well he’s performed on the court and conducted himself off it.