Karl-Anthony Towns, the self-proclaimed greatest big man shooter in the NBA, was recently subjected to intense criticism from Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley. Amid his lowest production season since his rookie year, they criticized him for his lack of aggression against the Detroit Pistons. Barkley even went to the extent of ‘carefully’ saying he “don’t know how to play basketball.” However, the New York Knicks star unexpectedly found support from another NBA legend.

“What we think KAT seems soft is when he’s not getting the ball, he don’t demand that shit out loud publicly,” Arenas said. “That’s not his character. See, ’80s, if Shaq ain’t getting the ball, he’s trying to wring your neck in a locker room. Now, if Karl did that, then okay. But that’s not his personality. He’s not going to go at his teammates and stuff like that. So the game is different. The people are different.”

Arenas has previously trolled the Knicks star, calling him “Sideshow Bob” and even making “girl’s legs” comments. However, the three-time NBA All-Star just clarified that his comments were never about Towns’ game, but about another factor.

“I make fun of KAT because just the mannerisms, because that’s what I do, because I’m a troll,” the NBA legend added on The Gilbert Arenas Show. “But when it comes to just basketball, power forward or center, he has a claim. For the last 11 years, he has been top two, top three in his position every year. You can give him credit, or you don’t. He gets the wrong end of the stick because of just the mannerisms.”

Before the Knicks faced the Houston Rockets, O’Neal opened the segment by calling Towns out for “playing soft.” Barkley added to the severity of the criticism, saying he was particularly upset with Towns not running at smaller defenders in the post and settling for 3-point shots. However, recent incidents have brought a strange pattern to the fore.

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Gilbert Arenas appears to be biting his own words about Karl-Anthony Towns…

Karl-Anthony Towns has always been confident in his long-range shooting, and, to be fair to him, he is not just a great shooter at the big man’s position but one of the best outside shooters in the NBA. However, sometimes his over-reliance on that one skill takes the aggression out of the game.

Two years ago, when the Minnesota Timberwolves met the Dallas Mavericks in the Conference Finals, Arenas wasn’t happy with Towns’ shot selection. While Arenas is now defending him against Barkley’s comments, the former Washington Wizards player has also criticized him similarly.

“I get 3-point shooting is good, but not f—— every game, man,” Arenas ranted back in 2024. “That s— ain’t cute… You have little guys on you, and you can’t properly post the f— up, that’s embarrassing.”

To be fair to Towns, one player that Barkley referenced and heaped praise on was Nikola Jokic. Surprisingly, 39.8% of Towns’ shots are from 0-3 feet from the basket compared to Joker, who takes only 22.8% of them from the same distance. Which proves that the Knicks star shoots more around the rim than the Denver Nuggets big man. Yet there’s a difference in their net 3-point shooting volume this season: Towns averages 4.4 attempts per game, while Jokic averages 6.7.

Yes, Jokic might indeed be a better player than Towns overall, but shaming the Knicks star for not knowing how to hoop seems over the top.