KAT-Tom Thibodeau relationship has ‘grown’ in New York since time with Wolves

Karl-Anthony Towns spent three seasons under coach Tom Thibodeau while with the Timberwolves from 2016-19, but their relationship has seemingly never been better since they’ve been reunited this season with the New York Knicks.

“No, he’s different. He’s a different man, I like this version going into 2025,” Towns told reporters. “You’ve seen him smile. I’ll keep it at that. I think that we all in life, we grow. I’ve grown since the time when we were together in Minnesota. He’s grown. I think that we’re just, in this game of life, we’re just finding ourselves and getting better all the time.”

Towns was only in his second NBA season when the Wolves hired Thibodeau to be their new head coach. He had just seen the man who drafted him, Flip Saunders, pass away, which was a lot for Towns to processes early in his career.

Towns is having a tremendous start to his tenure with the Knicks this season. Through 33 games, he is averaging 24.7 points, a league-high 14.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game on 54.8/44.0/83.4 shooting splits. It’s clear that both men have matured, and they’re playing winning basketball as New York is 24-11 and in third place in the Eastern Conference.

The Towns-Thibodeau-Jimmy Butler grouping lasted only one full season in Minnesota. It was clear that all three never saw eye to eye completely, and it’s fun to look back what could’ve been. As we’ve seen now at multiple stops with Butler, it’s fair to speculate that he could’ve been the issue, as Towns and Thibodeau are playing winning basketball in New York.

Ultimately, if the last few seasons of Timberwolves basketball have taught us anything, it’s the importance of team chemistry. You need your star players and head coach on the same page if you want to win in the NBA, and it seems like they’ve figured that out in New York this season.