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Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks reacts to shooting a basket during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets.
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has never been shy about confronting today’s stars — but even by his standards, Saturday night was blunt.
Shaq Calls Towns “Soft” — to His Face
In a postgame exchange that quickly turned uncomfortable, O’Neal looked Karl-Anthony Towns in the eye and told him exactly what he thought — calling the New York Knicks All-Star “soft” before challenging him to be dominant if the franchise hopes to win a championship.
The moment came moments after Towns powered the New York Knicks to a dramatic 108–106 comeback win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Towns finished with 25 points, including seven in the fourth quarter, as the Knicks erased an 18-point deficit and stole a game that appeared lost entering the final frame.
But the performance didn’t stop O’Neal from delivering his critique — live, on ESPN’s Inside the NBA.
“At the beginning of the game, I said you were playing soft,” O’Neal told Towns. “Because I’ve seen you at times when you play great. And what you must understand in New York, you need to be great for you guys to win the championship. It’s high aspirations.”
O’Neal didn’t stop there.
“If you guys win the championship, of course they’re gonna talk about Jalen Brunson,” he continued. “But it’s you and your play. You have to be dominant.”
Knicks Center Refuses the Bait
Rather than bristle, Towns deflected.
The Knicks’ center refused to personalize the criticism, steering the conversation toward collective goals rather than individual praise.
“If we win a championship, they can talk about anybody as long as we all get a ring,” Towns said. “That’s the most important thing. I don’t care about none of that.”
It was a measured response — one clearly designed to move the conversation along.
O’Neal, however, wasn’t finished.
“No, but you gotta play great,” O’Neal pressed. “It’s a one-two punch, and you’re part of that one-two punch.”
Towns tried again to reframe the exchange.
“I wanna make sure we all understand that the biggest goal, the main goal here, is to win,” he said. “It don’t matter who gets the credit.”
O’Neal doubled down.
“It ain’t about that,” he said. “You gotta play great to get the credit.”
With the exchange growing increasingly awkward, Towns finally nodded and ended it.
“I hear you,” he said. “Legend, I agree with you.”
Barkley Joins the Criticism
O’Neal’s comments were not made in isolation.
Earlier in the broadcast, fellow Hall of Famer Charles Barkley delivered his own pointed critique of Towns’ approach.
“The thing that frustrates me about him is he doesn’t know how to play basketball,” Barkley said. “He’s a terrific seven-foot shooter, but the matchup dictates whether you shoot threes or go post up.”
O’Neal echoed that sentiment with even harsher language.
“You can’t say you’re the greatest big man shooter and play like he’s been playing,” O’Neal said. “When he plays like that, me and Chuck don’t have a problem.”
He added that Towns gets into foul trouble too often and plays “really silly” at times — before circling back to his original point.
“If I were on his team, I’d look him in the face and say, ‘KAT, we need you,’” O’Neal said. “There are big aspirations for the Knicks, and you’re playing soft.”
Towns’ Play Did the Talking
Ironically, Towns’ on-court performance Saturday undermined much of the criticism.
He was the Knicks’ most impactful player in the fourth quarter, finishing with a game-high plus-23, while shooting 10-of-15 from the field and adding seven rebounds.
Defensively, Towns was just as influential. He held Rockets center Alperen Sengun to 0-of-3 shooting in the fourth quarter, anchoring a Knicks defense that finally found resistance when it mattered most.
Towns’ surge — alongside the energy of Jose Alvarado — set the stage for Jalen Brunson to deliver the final blows late.
Pressure Comes With Playing in New York
Whether fair or not, O’Neal’s message reflected the reality of playing center in New York — and the expectations that follow.
Towns didn’t win the exchange. But he didn’t lose control of it either.
Instead, he let the box score, the tape, and the standings do the arguing — even as one of the most dominant centers in NBA history told him, to his face, that good still isn’t good enough.
Alder Almo is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy.com. He has more than 20 years of experience in local and international media, including broadcast, print and digital. He previously covered the Knicks for Empire Sports Media and the NBA for Off the Glass. Alder is from the Philippines and is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey. More about Alder Almo