Charles Barkley missed the show earlier this month, and Shaquille O’Neal was on leave for Friday’s show. But now Inside the NBA had their original quartet, and it didn’t take long for the duo to dunk on the New York Knicks star. Despite the home team’s incredible 18-point comeback, Karl-Anthony Towns found himself in the crosshairs.

“I’m not saying be mean all that, it’s about mentality,” O’Neal said. “When I tell you, you gotta do this and do that, don’t respond by saying, ‘Oh, I’m trying to look out for everybody.’ No, no, you gotta be great.” Shaq and Towns had an awkward post-game conference. The Lakers legend wanted the Knicks star to take more responsibility and dominate the game. His emphasis was on KAT to “play great”. But Anthony Towns’ focus did not directly resonate with what O’Neal stated. This led to Charles Barkley’s reminder that everyone doesn’t have the same mental makeup.

“I’m not saying you’re wrong, but we all don’t have the same mental makeup. KAT is a very good player. He’s just a nice guy. He ain’t no killer. We can’t make him no killer. He doesn’t have killer (instincts) like you,” stated Chuck. While Karl-Anthony Towns led the scoring with 25 and rebounding with 7 for the team, his “soft” play-style was the talking point again on Inside the NBA.

While Jalen Brunson was struggling through one of his worst offensive showings of the year, KAT had his own issues. Scoring just 4 points in the first quarter and shooting just 4 attempts in the second quarter as the Houston Rockets outscored the Knicks 33-26. The NBA legends were disappointed with the $54 million star, but their point of view was totally different.

Shaq wanted more from KAT to attack and be more dominating like the old bigs. But Barkley stated that Towns doesn’t have the mentality to dominate and is happy helping his teammates first.

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Charles Barkley fired shots at Karl-Anthony Towns

“[Towns] don’t know how to play basketball. He’s a terrific seven-foot shooter. The matchup dictates whether you shoot threes or you go post up. When he got a little guy on him, there’s no need to shoot threes,” Chuck said to his co-hosts. To add to this, O’Neal said, “I would say this to his face if I was his teammate, he’s playing soft.”

The legends made it clear that they weren’t questioning Towns’ talent, but the choices during the game. While being a prolific shooter at his position, KAT seemingly doesn’t utilize his bigger size to get easier shots closer to the rim, especially against smaller defenders. His involvement in the offense was a major talking point during the blowout loss to the Pistons on Thursday. Even till the half time, the stats weren’t great. But the 30-year-old made it up by scoring 75% in the remaining two quarters.

Towns is having a down year this season with a career-worst 46.7% from the field. Additionally, his scoring average of 19.8 points and his three-point shooting of 34.9% are the lowest figures since his rookie year. Him attempting just 14 shots and converting just 6.5 is another career low for the Knicks star. Because of this, there are doubts growing over his decision-making.