While hosting the 2025 ESPY Awards, comedian Shane Gillis took a playful jab at New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns.
KAT has been the subject of ridicule for the tone of his voice for some time now, with Nick Young breaking out an impression of him on an episode of Gil's Arena earlier this year that painted him as effeminate. Gillis played into that by trolling KAT while discussing the Knicks' season. "The New York Knicks had a great season," he said to applause. "Karl-Anthony Towns is here, hey girrrrl."
There's been a lot of ridicule targeting Towns' voice, so much so that Kyrie Irving urged NBA fans to "stop making fun" of him during a recent Twitch stream.
“He’s Dominican, he’s Black, he grew up in a certain area in Jersey just like me,” he said. “You gotta survive out here. And you have many different demographics of people so you gotta survive out here. I don’t agree all the time when he be changing up his tone sometimes. I don’t always agree and all that shit. That shit be funny. But on a serious note, he is a man, he’s my brother, and I protect him all the time.”
Gilbert Arenas also ripped into Towns last month, saying that the Knicks star was "built like a girl" in a rant. "He has girl hips. He's like a full WNBA player," Arenas said. "He's built bad. He's not built to play."
Elsewhere during his time hosting the ESPYs, Gillis trolled the crowd by introducing his friend's wife as a WNBA star. "4-time WNBA All-Star Brittany Hicks is here," he said.
"Give it up for Brittany, everybody. I'm just joking around; that's my friend's wife, I knew none of you knew WNBA players."
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