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Evan & Tiki

Shaq Calls Out KAT as Knicks Surge Back with Statement Wins

Evan & Tiki

Audacy

Sports

4.2988 Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2026

⏱️ 15 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Knicks looked dead in the water against Houston… until the final eight minutes flipped everything. Jalen Brunson took over, Jose Alvarado sparked the defense, and New York pulled off a stunning comeback before grinding out another win in Chicago. But the real fireworks came off the court, when Shaquille O’Neal publicly challenged Karl-Anthony Towns on national TV about what it takes to win a championship in New York. Did KAT miss the point entirely? Is Brunson already the unquestioned alpha? And do the Knicks need a dominant version of Towns to truly contend? Plus, frustration over a growing Boston narrative that rewrites last year’s playoff series against the Knicks, snowstorm chaos in the Tri-State area, and a jam-packed sports weekend from spring training to soccer. A loaded segment breaking down whether this Knicks surge is real… and what it will take to turn it into a title run.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

It looked like it was going to be an ugly home loss to the Houston Rockets.

0:03.0

And then over the last eight and a half minutes, they put on a clinic. You saw the Houston Rocket offense go completely underwater. You saw Jose Alvarado make an impact. And of course, you saw Jalen Brunson at all the big shots that we are so accustomed to with Jaylen. And the Knicks came back and they beat the Houston Rockets. They followed it up yesterday by surviving in Chicago against the Bulls. Carl Anthony Towns playing really well

0:22.6

over these last two games. But there was a moment

0:25.2

on Saturday night that I thought was fascinating. And I can't wait to play it for you, Tiki, because

0:31.6

you're going to hear so many different elements of a conversation that occurred on TV between

0:37.4

the great

0:37.9

Shaquille O'Neal and Carl Anthony Towns.

0:41.0

And you hear Shaq lecture Carl Anthony Towns about what's needed for the Knicks to win a championship.

0:48.8

And it felt like Kat didn't fully understand what Shaq was saying.

0:54.1

So that's my editorial. Now I want you to hear the entire... didn't fully understand what Shaq was saying.

0:56.3

So that's my editorial.

1:00.1

Now I want you to hear the entire thing for those that haven't heard it.

1:02.8

For those that have heard it, it's probably good to hear it again because there's a lot of theories you can come out from this conversation.

1:07.8

So ladies and gentlemen, this is from Saturday nights inside the NBA, Shaquille O'Neill and Carl Anthony Towns. But you must understand in New York, you need to be great for you guys to win their championship. It's high aspirations. You know, if you guys won the championship, of course they're going to talk about Brunson, but it's you and your play, you have to be dominant. You responded very, very well.

1:28.0

You play well.

1:28.8

You played in the paint. That's how you should play. You should always play great. Being from Jersey, good ain't good enough. You had a great thing tonight. For sure. But what you said, too, is if we won a championship, they could talk about anybody. As long as we all get a ring, that's the most important thing. No, but you know.

1:44.1

I don't care. I don't care about none of that.

1:45.0

No, but you got to play great.

1:46.5

One two punch and you're part of that one two punch hell yeah hell yeah but you know i want to make sure we all understand the most the biggest goal and the main goal here is the win you know it don't matter about who gets the credit or whenever i just want to be part of right nope you got to play great you're sure you get the credit yeah okay legend i I agree with you. I agree with you. All right. I agree with great. You get the credit. Yeah, okay. Legend, I agree with you.

2:01.6

All right.

2:02.6

I agree with you. You know I got your jersey, baby. Yes, sir. What do you think of that, T? Yeah, it's like he was trying to be the good guy for his teammates. Right. He was trying to, we're going to all do this together. It's all on me.

2:15.9

It's not all on me.

...

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