The Shaquille O’Neal-Karl-Anthony Towns conversation changes quickly after the Knicks win

Not all superstars have the same personality.

That was made abundantly clear during Shaquille O’Neal’s postgame interview with Karl-Anthony Towns after the Knicks’ 108-106 victory over the Rockets on Saturday night at the Garden.

Before Towns scored a team-high 25 points in the win, O’Neal, along with Charles Barkley, criticized the Knicks’ bullpen, calling it “soft.”

To his credit, O’Neal admitted to Towns after the game that he criticized his “soft” play because he’s always seen him play hard and wants to see him do that consistently.

“At the beginning of the game, I thought he was playing soft because I’ve seen you play well,” O’Neal told Towns on ESPN’s “Inside the NBA” postgame. “And what you have to understand in New York, you have to do well to win the championship. It’s a big ambition.

“If you guys win a championship, of course, they’re going to talk about it [Jalen] Brunson, but you and your game. You have to be strong. You answered very well. You played well, you played in the paint, you should play like that. You must always play well. Coming from Jersey, it’s not good enough. He had a great game tonight. I am proud of you.”

If Shaq wanted a deal from the City, he was surprised.

“No, of course. But what you said, again, if we win the tournament, they can talk about anybody as long as we all get a ring. That’s the most important thing. I don’t care about that.”

It was Towns first team response, but Shaq wasn’t buying it and came back with a quick response.

“No, but you have to play well. It’s a 1-2 punch, and you’re part of that 1-2 punch,” O’Neal said.

Towns gave Shaq’s point a quick nod but doubled down on his point that helping bring the Knicks an NBA title is what it’s all about, not individual accolades.

“It’s hell yeah, but I want to make sure we all understand that the main goal, the main goal here, is to win,” Towns said. “It doesn’t matter who gets the credit or what.”

But O’Neal tripped over his point, replying: “It’s not that, you have to play well. No, you have to play well to get credit.”

Towns, sounding like he was ready to end this part of the interview, replied: “I hear you. Legend, I agree with you.”

After the interview with Towns was completed, Barkley told Shaq that Towns is a good player and a good person, but that it is not in his mind to be murderous. He also added that you cannot force a player to be something he is not.

Despite the drama, it seems that the Towns may be starting to turn around.

Towns – a six-time All-Star – posted his fourth 20-point game, his longest of the season.