Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns Offers Support To Grieving Ex-Teammate
New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns offered a public show of support for grieving former Minnesota Timberwolves teammate Naz Reid on Monday after the latter's sister Toraya passed away over the weekend after a shooting at a New Jersey apartment complex. A man, whom police have said was dating Toraya at the time of her passing, is in police custody with a murder charge.
While Towns did not refer to the incident by name, it was more than likely what he was referring to in a somber social media post seen on Monday.
"Heartbroken. No words can ever take away the pain for my brother," Towns said on X with emojis depicting a heart and hands praying. "Holding everyone close in prayer today."
Towns and Reid were teammates were five seasons in Minneapolis, helping oversee the recent rise of the Timberwolves franchise that culminated in their return to the Western Conference Finals in 2024.
Towns was traded to the Knicks shortly after Reid was granted a three-year, $42 million contract extension, one earned shortly after he won the Sixth Man of the Year Award. Both Towns and Reid are natives of New Jersey, with the Knicks All-Star hailing from Edison while the latter got his start in Asbury Park.
Though the two have gone their separate professional ways, an unbreakable bond continues to cross conferences, as confirmed by Reid before Towns made his first visit to Target Center as a Knick back in December.
"He's a guy that's taught me the ropes," Reid said, per Tony Liebert of Timberwolves on SI. "He kind of helped me get into the position that I am in today. Obviously, we have to compete against each other, but he's still my brother at the end of the day."
"He's a good guy off the court. He's a guy that you want to be around. We've known each other before the NBA or whatever the case may be. We go years back. If you see another guy make it from where we come from, it's always love."
Patriots Mike Vrabel Delivers Clear Message to Bill Belichick
Patriots first-year head coach Mike Vrabel has plenty to worry about without thinking about New England’s former coach, the coach who led the teams on which Vrabel won his three Super Bowl rings as a linebacker. But Vrabel just can’t seem to stop answering questions about Bill Belichick.
Even as Vrabel was attempting to process the Patriots’ lackluster 20-13 defeat to the Las Vegas Raiders in his debut as the team’s head coach — after months of promising a new, more aggressive “culture” and style of play compared to New England’s confused system that led to back-to-back 4-13 seasons — the former six-year coach of the Tennessee Titans was again confronted with a question about Belichick in his regularly scheduled Monday radio interview.
Belichick’s Puzzling ‘Not Welcome’ Claim
The repeated questions about Belichick, who was relieved of his duties with the Patriots in January, 2024, after 24 years as head coach, are not something that Vrabel invites. They have resulted mainly from Belichick’s own, often provocative behavior since leaving New England and taking over as head coach of college football’s North Carolina Tar Heels.
Monday’s question to Vrabel came after Belichick claimed that he was “not welcome” at the Patriots facilities in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The former coach’s claim came after reports that he had, for reasons that were not entirely clear, banned Patriots scouts from visiting UNC practice facilities. The decision seemed especially bizarre because Belichick had earlier promised that under his leadership, the Tar Heels football program would serve as a “pipeline” to the NFL for players.
Belichick Claims Patriots Do Not Welcome Him
On Saturday, following the Tar Heels’ uninspiring 20-3 win over an overmatched opponent in the Charlotte 49ers, Belichick for the first time publicly confirmed that he had barred Patriots scouts from visiting the team’s facilities.
“It’s clear I’m not welcome there at their facility. So they’re not welcome at ours,” Belichick told reporters during his postgame press conference Saturday.
Vrabel Contradicts Belichick’s Claim
While Belichick limits access for scouts from other NFL teams, the Patriots appear to be the only team that he has slapped with a 100 percent ban, which he now claims is a decision made from “simple” reciprocity.
But Belichick’s claim seemed to come as a surprise to Vrabel when he was asked about it during his appearance on Boston’s WEEI radio on Monday.
“Bill came back for, to the best of my knowledge, Tom’s ceremony,” Vrabel said, as quoted by ESPN.com — referring to Belichick’s appearance at Tom Brady’s induction last year into the Patriots Hall of Fame. “So I guess he’s welcomed back based on the fact he was there. I’ll just go by that — since his departure as the head coach here, he’s been back. I’ll leave it at that.”
