The Knicks reality at the center of the Jalen Brunson-Karl-Anthony Towns friendship

Karl-Anthony Towns had to get off a joke first.

“Did he say that with Josh [Hart] around or no? Ooh, Josh is going to be jealous,” Towns said Tuesday.

Towns was asked about Jalen Brunson’s praise of him as a teammate and friend. Just a few minutes earlier, over in the other interview room, Brunson spoke about what he’s learned about Towns over the past two years and how their relationship has grown.

Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson celebrate after the Knicks’ Game 2 win over the Spurs. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

“He’s been a great teammate,” Brunson said. “He’s been a very great teammate. But most importantly, the person he is is fantastic. Like, he’s a person who is willing to do whatever to kind of help out, whether he knows you well or not. That’s just who his character is, that’s just who he is. That translates on the court.”

Brunson’s best friend on the team, of course, is Hart, dating back to when they were teammates at Villanova.

They might like to roast each other in public, but they — and their families — are inseparable. They have a podcast together.

And, notably, they are part of the ’Nova Knicks core, along with Mikal Bridges. It’s rare to have three players on the same team that know each other so well or for so long.

Towns, though, is not part of the ’Nova Knicks. He spent just one year at Kentucky and, as the No. 1 pick in the draft, was a much more heralded prospect than any of Brunson, Hart or Bridges.

And, to get Towns, the Knicks parted with Donte DiVincenzo, a former and beloved member of the ’Nova Knicks.

For most of his time on the Timberwolves, Towns was the top option before joining Brunson and the Knicks. Bridges and Hart, on the other hand, were used to being role players on their previous teams.

So, Brunson and Towns were two top options who had to learn how to coexist and be co-stars.

“I think our friendship is built off of respect,” Towns said. “We’ve had so much respect for each other as opponents, and now to be teammates, spending true time with each other as teammates. I’ve always said, we spend more time with each other than our families, our kids. So to see who we truly are on a day-to-day basis and how we truly treat people and the things that the media says, is it true, is it not, and you’re getting to see firsthand what the truth really is.

“I’m glad I’ve been able to not only earn his respect even more as a basketball player, but as a man. For him to appreciate the advice I give him on the daily, in daily life and things I see, it means a lot.”

That sentiment — learning about who the other truly is rather than what the media or fans say they are — was something both brought up.

Before joining the Knicks, there was a reputation surrounding Towns that he is soft or not necessarily a winner. Brunson sees a different reality.

“Getting to know him now, it’s an unfair narrative of him, but I truly love that dude and everything he’s done for this team, this city and as a friend,” Brunson said. “He’s been fantastic.”