Karl-Anthony Towns says he's lost seven family members to COVID-19
Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns is still grieving the death of his mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, and opened up about the losses his family has experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Towns said he "hasn't been in a good place" since his mom was hospitalized with COVID-19. She died from complications of the virus April 13.
In addition to his mom, Towns said he's had six other family members die from COVID-19: "I'm the one looking for answers to try to keep my family well informed and make all the moves necessary to keep them alive."
Towns shared several videos on social media, discussing what he went through while caring for his mom and how he felt after she passed. He wanted to "protect others and keep others well-informed, even though I knew it was going to take the most emotionally out of me that I've ever been asked to do."
"I didn't want people to feel the way I felt," Towns said. "I wanted to try to keep them from having the ordeal and the situation I was going through. It just came from a place that I didn't want people to feel as lonely and upset as I was."
Towns welcomes the new season gearing up since he hasn't competed in a NBA game since February, when he injured his wrist. But it won't be the same without his mom on the sidelines, who hardly ever missed a game. He said that seeing his mom at the baseline and in the stands "having a good time watching me play" made him smile. 먹튀검증
"It is going to be hard to play," Towns said. "It's going to be difficult to say this is therapy. I don't think [playing basketball] will ever be therapy for me again. But it gives me a chance to relive good memories I had."
Over 275,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19, according to the CDC. The CDC also announced a record 219,187 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the U.S. on Thursday, pushing the total number of cases over 14 million.
Over 1.2 million cases nationwide were reported in the last seven days. Minnesota alone has had 44,323 in the last week.
