Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns went to head coach Ryan Saunders to question the wisdom of playing Friday’s game in Charlotte after three Hornets players entered the league’s health and safety protocols, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
Towns said he started to get “spooked” after learning Cody Martin, Caleb Martin and P.J. Washington would all have to miss the game due for coronavirus-related reasons. Hornets coach James Borrego wasn’t allowed to join his team until an hour before tip-off as he waited for his test results.
“It just brought up so many things I’ve been through, and it affected me in such a way where basketball wasn’t important anymore,” Towns said. “And I remember going up to Ryan and asking, ‘Are you sure we should play this?’ These guys had some COVID positives and we’re playing with guys who were around these people.”
No NBA player has been hit harder by COVID-19 than Towns, who lost his mother and six other loved ones to the virus. He missed close to a month after testing positive in January, and although he is still carrying antibodies that make re-infection unlikely, Towns was concerned about the risk to his teammates and to the other Hornets.
“I was one of those guys that was negative today and tomorrow negative and the next day I was positive with COVID — and a bad case of it,” Towns said. “I understood where the situation was for me and not knowing what the timeline for the cases and stuff like that, and I didn’t know if they were contagious, not contagious, how well the contact tracing was and all that stuff, so I was more worried for the guys and I was worried for myself.”
Krawczynski notes that the NBA has been operating in a high-risk environment since the season began. Teams take chances every day by flying from city to city while hoping that strict protocols and frequent testing will be enough to protect the players, who are confined to their hotel rooms and have their post-game handshakes monitored.
The league has already seen 23 games postponed, albeit none since February 1. Most games are still being played in empty arenas, and there have been a few regrettable incidents, such as Kevin Durant being removed in the middle of a game last week.
Towns understands that players and owners want to keep the season going, but incidents like the one in Charlotte are a harsh reminder that the virus hasn’t gone away.
“It’s not going to stop,” he said. “The world, especially America, is just getting more and more COVID cases. I’m just worried. My heart goes out to all the people that have gotten COVID, the families that have been affected by it. I just couldn’t stomach seeing one of my guys get it and not being able to do anything. I’ve already had that situation once; I’m not trying to have that one again.”
Towns has a good point
At this moment
Wolves are the worst team in the nba
30 Wolves
29 Wizards
28 Pistons
Warriors get no pick or top 5 pick this summer
Why bring the Warriors into this post? Show some class for once, what a terrible, disgusting post. Grow up or grow a brain or human feelings, you degenerate….
Someone cranky after that shameful, embarrassing, blowout loss to their Ex lol
KAT my man, you need to have a hope for the future, you can be with yo momma again… (Jer. 29:11)
As a matter of fact there is a better future just ahead of us, that’s for sure!
Animos mi amigo!
Great message, el don. You are absolutely right!!
Huh? English please.
Jergens 29:11 it’s a bible verse (ever heard of it? They print it in ALL languages…)
“And Alan said, go unto your mother, and with hope of yonder future, a paradise of lust awaits, and fruit of the sea”
Jergens is German, not Hebrew. It is not in the Christian Bible.
Agree to disagree
@Lil_D_Top It is not difficult to verify your claim that the Christian Bible contains the book of Jergens. Why do you believe something that is obviously false?
Gross @Howie415. The comment was mostly in English, but there is no language requirement here. Check yourself. We live in a multiculture.
@xtraflamy Townes lost 7 close relatives to Covid-19, and your response is to be flippant. That’s pretty cruel. The guy needs support instead of being dismissive.
I was never flippant about Towns’ situation. I was responding to your extremely off-base response that said: “Huh? English please.”. Show me the compassion for Towns or the OP in that terse response.
You think citing the Book of Jergens is being serious. The Book of Jergens doesn’t exist.
Agree to disagree on that bud. Jergens is real. Your choice whether to believe in it or not.
The scripture is obviously Jeremiah 29:11, commonly abbreviated as Jer.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord . “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
This is not a flippant reference, and goes perfectly with the message of the OP, to have faith in a plan, and to have hope. Moreover, the phrase “animos mi amigo!” roughly translates to “courage my friend!” like “don’t give up!”.
All of this seems supportive of Towns, so @Howie415 you can see that your response is extremely off base.
Not sure where @Lil_D got “Jergens” but the OP was @El Don, so arguing with @Lil_D makes little sense.
I think you owe an apology for your misread and weird reaction – it’s okay to make a mistake, we all do. What separates the best is owning it.
The way this sounds, his mom died, he’s ultra-paranoid. Why is he playing? His living room is far more safe. Couldn’t he give back money & sit out? If his words were my words, I wouldn’t be playing at all, let alone traveling!
Sounds more like he is being smart. Given growing number of more lethal variants out, and the possibility of getting HIV-infected, he is being smart.
Please explain this HIV correlation.
I typed re, and it printed as HIV.
Fair enough. Thanks for clarifying.
For his own health and protection KAT should just sit out the rest of the season. Whether he plays or does not play in 2021, Timberpuppies are going nowhere.