Karl-Anthony Towns, who lost his mother to covid-19, tests positive for coronavirus
“Prior to tonight’s game, I received yet another awful call that I tested positive for COVID,” Towns wrote. “I will immediately isolate and follow every protocol. 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 revealed in an emotional video in March that his mother was in a coma and had to be positioned on a ventilator after contracting the virus. Jacqueline Towns, a local of the Dominican Republic who had been a fixture at her son’s video games as he went from a five-star highschool recruit to a one-and-done season on the University of Kentucky to the highest draft choose within the 2015 NBA draft, died April 13. Towns referred to his mother as “the strongest woman I know.”
“We cannot stop the spread of this virus alone, it must be a group effort by all of us,” Towns mentioned in his assertion Friday. “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. 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.”
Towns returned to the courtroom in December with a heavy coronary heart, telling reporters that his “soul has been killed off” following his mother’s demise and including that he had lost at the least six different relations to covid-19.
“I only know what happened from April 13 on,” Towns said in December. “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. I don’t know that man.”
The 25-year-old middle is averaging 22 factors, 12.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists this season, though he has solely performed 4 video games due to a wrist harm.
Towns is one among a number of stars to be sidelined in latest weeks due to a positive coronavirus take a look at or contact tracing, together with Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Jayson Tatum. The NBA has had to postpone at the least 12 video games this week due to positive tests and phone tracing.
Nevertheless, the NBA has mentioned it plans to proceed the season. Commissioner Adam Silver hasn’t established clear standards for what would wish to occur for the NBA to put all of its video games on maintain. The league launched its 2020-21 schedule in two elements to permit flexibility to make up postponed video games if vital.
“If we found a situation where our protocols weren’t working, meaning that not only did we have some cases of covid but that we were witnessing spread either among teams or even possibly to another team, that would cause us to suspend the season,” Silver mentioned in December. “I think we are prepared for isolated cases. In fact, based on what we’ve seen in the preseason, based on watching other leagues operating outside the bubble, unfortunately it seems somewhat inevitable. But we’re prepared for all contingencies.”
