Sports

Karl-Anthony Towns Credits Jordyn Woods for Making Him 'Better All Around'

The New York Knicks star described the ways that his bride-to-be helped him improve.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 15: (L-R) Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordyn Woods attend the 2026 ESPY Awards at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on July 15, 2026 in New York City.
Taylor Hill/Getty Images

Apart from his late mother, Karl-Anthony Towns credits his fiancée, Jordyn Woods, as a woman who helped carry him to the top.

In a Saturday (July 25 appearance) on The New York Times show The Interview, the New York Knicks center named Woods as someone who’s shaped him into a better person on and off the court.

“I guess you could say a relationship in Hollywood hasn't lasted as long as ours,” KAT said around the 16-minute mark of the video below. “That's just kind of not the norm. And then we found ourselves finding each other at the foundational level of just being friends for years.”

The athlete added that Woods “taught” him more about himself than he was “willing to work on.”

"She makes me better all around, you know? And also just made me better with patience as well,” he said.

The NBA star also credited Woods’ lucky orange clutch as the accessory that won the Knicks their first championship game in over 50 years in June. “The one that won us a chip,” Towns said, adding that the clutch would be leaving its temporary display at the Guggenheim Museum for Fanatics Fest, which was held earlier this month.

After over five years of dating, Towns proposed to Woods on Christmas 2025, following the Knicks’ win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden. The athlete presented Woods with an elongated emerald-cut diamond ring estimated at over 10 carats at the Overstory bar in lower Manhattan.

While on Late Night With Seth Meyers in January, Towns recalled his bride-to-be being “ecstatic” about the proposal. “I wanted her to have a ring that shows that bond and relationship that we've built. And yeah, I want everyone to know she's mine," he said.

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