Karl-Anthony Towns tests positive for COVID-19 after losing mom, 6 other family members to the virus
After COVID-19 has devastated his family, Karl-Anthony Towns announced on Friday night that he had contracted the coronavirus himself.
The Minnesota Timberwolves star, who lost his mom and six other family members to the coronavirus last year, made the announcement just hours before they were set to host the Memphis Grizzlies. That game, the league announced, had been postponed.
Towns said he is now isolating.
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) January 15, 2021
“I pray every day that this nightmare of a virus will subside and I beg everyone to continue to take it seriously by taking all of the necessary precautions,” Towns wrote on Twitter. “We cannot stop the spread of this virus alone, it must be a group effort by all of us. It breaks my heart that my family, and particularly my father and sister continue to suffer from the anxiety that comes along with this diagnosis as we know all too well what the end result could be.”
Towns lost seven family members to COVID
Towns suffered perhaps more than anyone else in the sports world last year.
The 25-year-old’s mom, Jacqueline, died in April due to the coronavirus. Jacqueline, a nurse, had been placed into a medically induced coma, which prompted Towns to urge Americans to start taking the pandemic seriously.
He later revealed that six other family members, including his uncle, died due to the coronavirus.
Naturally, basketball didn’t seem very important to the sixth-year veteran.
“I don’t even recognize most of my other games and years I’ve played and how I felt those days,” Towns said last month after dropping a double-double in their season-opener. “If I can be honest with ya’ll for a second, I mean, I don’t really recall or really care. I only understand what happened from April 13th on.
“Because you may see me smiling and stuff, but that Karl died on April 13. He’s never coming back, I don’t remember that man. You’re talking to the physical me, but my soul has been killed off a long time ago.”
Towns has played in just four games so far this season, and has been sidelined with a wrist injury he suffered late last year.
Towns then ended his post with a pledge to his family.
“To my niece and nephew, Jolani and Max, I promise you I will not end up in a box next to grandma and I will beat this,” he wrote.
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