As an NBA great sees it, New York Knicks would be best suited to play through Karl-Anthony Towns this year. The superstar center has played with an elite level of efficiency, which could allow the Knicks to emulate a legendary duo from the NBA’s rich history.

The Knicks urged using the Shaq & Kobe model with Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson

For KnicksMuse, Retired three-time All-Star Gilbert Arenas recently touched on the Knicks dichotomy on his Gils Arena podcast. He compared how the Knicks should prioritize Towns on offense over All-Star Jalen Brunson to Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers in the early 2000s, saying in part:

“I think KAT should be the No. 1 option. I think he’s going to take a lot of pressure off Brunson, carrying the team,” Arenas reasoned. “It’s like Shaq-Kobe style, right? Shaq is option one, one through three. There’s five, six minutes left in the game, it goes to Kob and I think that’s how it should be. We’ll use Towns as long as he gets it going. Use it. I’ll find my way, I’ll stay involved, but most of the shots will go to him, and then in the last four, five minutes I’ll take over.”

Knicks: Towns is in the hunt in 2024-25

Cities absolutely dominate this season. He owns the eighth-highest scoring average in the league at 26.4 points per game. He also shoots 50 percent from three-point range. Towns is scoring six points a night in pick-and-roll situations, good for No. 3 among all screeners in the entire league, and has done well with the ball in his hands.

The Kentucky product is at a point in his career where he has had plenty of playoff experience and filled multiple offensive roles. It might be time for him to amalgamate all of those skills and traits as the Knicks’ leader while Brunson serves as a late-game bystander.

Brunson could thrive in a faster offense as a late-game hero

Brunson draws double teams out of the screen-and-roll as much as Towns does in the post. When the game slows down and the defense traps Towns, the Villanova product could not only find easier looks off the catch, but also force the defense to switch while trying to contain both players. That’s what made the Shaq & Kobe Lakers so special. Shaq would punish teams inside for 42 minutes while Bryant started, and once LA knew teams would look to send O’Neal to the lane or deny him the ball, Kobe was allowed to boogie in the middle.

Encouraging, both Knicks the stars are scoring in volume on offense, so probably not much sacrifice will have to be made to do such a dynamic job. For now, Arenas’ suggestion remains just that. But if the season continues on its current trajectory, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau could return to such a scheme.