Wolf star Karl-Anthony Towns says he lost 7 immediate family members to COVID-19

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Karl-Anthony Towns # 32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves hugs his parents, Karl and Jackie Towns after winning the game against the Denver Nuggets on April 11, 2018 at Target Center in Minneapolis. (Hannah Foslien / Getty Images)

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Karl-Anthony Towns revealed the devastation caused by COVID-19 to his family in recent months on Friday.

Since losing his mother in April, Towns says he has lost six other close family members to COVID-19, including his uncle who just passed away this week.

“I lost a lot,” Towns said. “Close family members, people who raised me, who brought me here, yesterday being another time I have to go back to my life with this person and try to get over it.”

Towns says his focus over the past few months has been to do what he can to keep his family safe.

“Trying to keep my sister, the kids, and my dad out of harm’s way,” Towns said. “I’ve seen a lot of coffins in the last seven months, eight months. But I have a lot of people in my family, in my mother’s family, who have contracted COVID and it is I who are still looking for answers, trying to keep them healthy. “

The pandemic hit Towns and her family hard from the start, with her mother Jacqueline Cruz Towns losing her battle with the disease in April. Towns remembered his mother as one of his biggest supporters and made it all the way to the NBA.

But, when asked if returning to the court this month might be some form of therapy, Towns dismissed the idea that basketball would be able to help heal the loss he suffered. .

“Basketball as therapy for me is new to me,” Towns explained. “I didn’t, I’ve never been in a good mental state since that moment when I went to the hospital. It gets more and more difficult every day … I wouldn’t say at all that it’s therapy for me. I played this game more because I just love watching my family members see me play a game that I did really well at. It always made me smile when I saw my mother in the back or in the stands having fun. “

“It’s going to be difficult to play,” he added. “It’s going to be hard to say it’s therapy. I don’t think it will ever be therapy for me again. But it gives me a chance to relive the good memories I had.

While playing basketball may not be a relief, Towns says he is grateful for the support he receives from the team and his teammates, especially D’Angelo Russell, who he said had been by his side. during this incredibly difficult time.