Karl-Anthony Towns talks about his ‘wild’ return to Minnesota with the New York Knicks

The plane the New York Knicks took to Minnesota landed at MSP airport instead of Signature Flight Support, which is the private terminal the Timberwolves always land at coming back into town from the road.

That was the first indication that this was going to be a “wild” experience for Karl-Anthony Towns as he made his return to Minnesota, where he spent the first nine seasons of his career. Then the Knicks’ bus went to the team hotel downtown, and Towns had to branch out from there to return home to spend the night in his own house.

“Lot of years of great memories here, and it’s always a warm feeling I get stepping in Target Center,” Towns said after Knicks shootaround Thursday.

But it was different for Towns going in the opposing locker room and coming out of the opposite tunnel for the first time since the team traded him to New York for Donte DiVincenzo, Julius Randle and a first-round pick.

There was no denying that Thursday was going to be “weird” for him. He smiled as he sat on the bench and watched a tribute video on the scoreboard before he was introduced after years of watching them for other players, then received a standing ovation. Even while trying to focus on the game at hand, Towns tried to soak in as many moments as he could.

“I just want to appreciate every second, every moment of this experience, and it’s gonna be great to see my brothers,” Towns said before the game.

As for his “brothers” on the Wolves, Towns said he remains an “avid fan” of the team even after the trade. He stays in touch with the players and watches games when he can. That even goes for Billie Eilish concerts, as Towns’ girlfriend, Jordyn Woods, posted to social media video of Towns watching a Wolves preseason game while attending an Eilish concert in October.

“They’re still my brothers, still my guys, just because the trade happened doesn’t mean I lost love for them,” Towns said.

In particular, Towns said he will always have a special relationship with Wolves guard Anthony Edwards. The two had a close relationship from the time Edwards arrived with the franchise in 2020, and Towns helped Edwards navigate the sometimes choppy waters of NBA stardom as his career rose when the two were teammates. After the trade happened, Edwards said Towns was his “brother” and that the trade “really hurt.” When the Wolves played the Knicks in the preseason, Edwards and Towns swapped jerseys, with Edwards saying he had to have Towns’ jersey that night.

“Just continue to cheer for him, always have an ear to listen to things that he has, and ideas he has,” Towns said. “Whatever it may be. Be there for him. Like KG was to me, like a big bro, I’m always going to be here, Ant. Ant never has to worry about not having me on his side just because the jerseys are different. Our relationship, I don’t even want to say it’s a friendship. It’s really a brotherhood.”

Over the past few days, a number of Wolves spoke about the memories they have of Towns. Rudy Gobert is grateful for Towns’ friendship and how accommodating Towns was when Gobert came to Minnesota in 2022.

Mike Conley said he missed Towns’ upbeat attitude and personality around the practice facility every day, while coach Chris Finch said Towns’ sacrifice of switching positions to make room for Gobert was never undervalued by the team. Now that he’s playing center again, Towns’ numbers are up, and he leads the league in rebounding.

“Forever grateful for that, and not many players of his caliber are going to do it with the willingness that he did and the effectiveness that he did,” Finch said. “… He liked to practice, he brought good energy to practice. He cheered for Ant from the moment that he got here, and that really set the tone for everything since I’ve been here.”

Towns hasn’t stopped cheering for his old team, even if he paused that for one night.

“I was here nine years. It’s a long time,” Towns said. “I had called this place home. So to be back here, to be able to sleep in my house one more time was really, it was really a nostalgic feeling.”