Karl-Anthony Towns winning the NBA championship with the New York Knicks last season was not merely the headline of a successful NBA career thus far. It was also the answer to years of criticism, most notably that from former Minnesota Timberwolves teammate Jimmy Butler, who before his messy exit in 2018 was involved in a feud with KAT.

Butler, who had reportedly called KAT ‘soft’ during practice in the build-up to his move to the Philadelphia 76ers, has now received a fitting response from KAT’s father, Karl Towns Sr. Towns’ dad claimed that Butler had been surpassed by his son during an interview with The Athletic.

“It only hurt me as a father to hear people saying stuff that was negative that wasn’t true to bring him down,” he said. “But in the end, it all paid up. Jimmy ain’t got no championship. Karl bypassed him.”

Karl Sr. claimed that he was hurt due to the years of criticism his son received, with a range of people calling out his son for being ‘soft.’

“As a dad, you sit here and you hear all the rumors,” he said. “‘He can’t do it. He’s not tough. He’ll never win a championship.’ I knew in the next eight seconds, life was going to change. All the haters, all the naysayers, everybody who doubted him have to shut their mouths and respect him now.”

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In his eight seasons at Minnesota, KAT qualified for the playoffs just thrice, and despite winning the Rookie of the Year award in 2016 and earning three All-Star appearances until 2022, his team had limited success. KAT formed a young trio alongside Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, and it was the perceived ‘colorful and goofy things’ he said post games that reportedly irked Butler initially.

“I just was never going to change who I was, even when the world was asking me to change who I was, so I could be the character in their story,” Towns said. “I just was going to continue to be me.”

However, while Butler ended up leaving the Timberwolves after a long-drawn out saga, KAT never publicly spoke back, and instead continued to work on his game. That approach has eventually paid off, with Butler still searching for his first ring, while Towns will look to build on the championship he landed with the Knicks last season.