Towns credits Jeremy Lin for forging his Knicks loyalty

Towns credits Jeremy Lin for forging his Knicks loyalty

Karl-Anthony Towns, starting center for the New York Knicks, said on Friday that Jeremy Lin’s 2012 breakthrough was responsible for making him a Knicks fan – a personal history that now carries added weight as Towns prepares to play in the franchise’s first NBA Finals since the 1998-99 season.

Speaking ahead of the Finals, Towns recalled scrambling to find a Lin jersey at a Modell’s sporting goods store during the “Linsanity” run, when he was still a high school student growing up in New Jersey. “I truly want to give a shoutout to Jeremy Lin because he really made me a Knicks fan,” Towns said, via the New York Post. “I have so much love for Jeremy Lin, he’s one of my favorite Knicks of all time, one of my favorite players of all time. He made me so passionate about the Knicks.” Towns noted that Lin had mentioned him on social media, calling the gesture “kind of crazy” given the depth of his admiration. He added that his parents steered him toward the Knicks rather than the neighboring Brooklyn Nets.

Lin’s surge in early 2012 came during a stretch in which the undrafted point guard won several consecutive games as a starter, briefly turning the Knicks into one of the most-watched teams in the league. The run did not produce a deep playoff run, but it restored a level of national attention the franchise had largely been without since its last Finals appearance, in 1999, when the team lost to the San Antonio Spurs.

Towns, Jalen Brunson, and Josh Hart have led this Knicks group to the Finals, where the franchise will pursue its first championship since 1973. Four wins separate New York from that title.