Earlier this week, Karl-Anthony Towns came back to the Timberwolves roster after omitting 13 games as he fought COVID.
After the death of his mother and six other family members because of the disease in the past year, Towns’ diagnoses came after. This made his situation all the more frightening for him and those closest to him.
He suffered through difficult nights according to how Towns discussed the scary trouble. He also talked about being in a high-risk category affected his recovery. It made it all the more inspiring that he was able to come back and log 18 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday.
He was back in the lineup Friday night as the Timberwolves traveled to Charlotte to play the Hornets, but after news emerged that three of their opponents players — P.J. Washington and Caleb and Cody Martin — were ruled out because of COVID protocols, Towns admitted that his mind was elsewhere as the stark reality of the ongoing pandemic was once again front and center.
It’s a perfectly understandable reaction, given what he’s been through. Towns ended up finding his footing in the second half, finishing the game with 25 points, eight rebounds, and five three-pointers, albeit in a loss, as Charlotte ended up winning the game, 120-114.
