Karl-Anthony Towns Goes Viral With "Lack Of Effort" Sequence That Draws Mike Brown's Ire
Jan 16, 2026
“Get back on defense” is a familiar chorus that coaches scream in the course of an NBA game. On Wednesday, Karl-Anthony Towns failed to heed this instruction during one infamous sequence. The result: Towns went viral for the wrong reasons.
Shortly before halftime of the New York Knicks–Sacramento Kings game, the five-time All-Star got the ball on the right wing and attacked early in the shot clock. As the Kings’ big man Precious Achiuwa attempted to swipe the ball away, Towns lost his dribble and fell to the ground.
After taking a moment to get back on his feet, Towns decided to stay behind in the backcourt, leaving his teammates to deal with a five-on-four situation on the defensive end.
Russell Westbrook missed an open corner three, but the Knicks were unable to secure the defensive rebound. In the ensuing Sacramento possession, Westbrook finally converted on a trey from the same spot.
For nearly this entire sequence, Towns did not even cross the half-court line to get into the active play. The Kings would then take a 56–42 lead at the end of two quarters, and they would hold on to win 112–101.
To the surprise of no one, Knicks head coach Mike Brown called out Towns after the game. “When you fall down, you gotta get up and sprint down the floor,” Brown told reporters. “There was no sense of urgency on that particular play to get back. It was a five-point swing. If he at least gets down the floor, he gets the long rebound because he’s trailing the play.”
Towns’ lack of effort in that moment was one of the causes of Brown’s frustration. This latest setback marks the sixth loss in the last eight outings for the Knicks. On top of this, the Wednesday night showdown also happened to be the first time that Brown returned to Sacramento after the Kings unceremoniously dismissed him in December 2024.
Only Towns can say for certain whether he believed that he was fouled on his drive to the basket or felt some sort of pain that hindered him from getting back on defense. What is for certain, however, is that no one in the Knicks camp was happy with what he did—or failed to do.
