On Wednesday afternoon, reports emerged that Karl-Anthony Towns might return to the lineup against the Clippers after missing the last 13 games with COVID-19. Towns’ diagnoses was a particularly scary turn of events after the Timberwolves center had lost his mother, along with six other family members, to the disease in the past year.
Following some uncertainty about whether he would actually suit up, Towns did just that and logged 18 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists, as his team ultimately fell to the Clippers, 119-112. Given the circumstances, it was an inspiring performance so soon after suffering an ordeal with a deadly virus that has decimated his family.
After the game, Towns told reporters about his experience with the disease over the past few weeks since his diagnosis, explaining that because he was in the high-risk category, it had a particularly severe effect on him and led to some terrifying experiences as he worked his way through recovery.
Karl-Anthony Towns: “Getting COVID stopped everything…I am a high-risk case. COVID did not treat me well whatsoever. A lot of scary nights.” He told his sister he got a bad version of COVID and had “a lot of it in me..A lot of long nights and the vitals weren’t good (at times)”
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) February 11, 2021
KAT: “Everyone is different. My underlying conditions did not play in my favor with COVID… I am the most genetically close to my mother…nothing was playing in my favor.. mental health is very real. I have dealt with it my whole life and my mother always knew how to heal me.”
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) February 11, 2021
KAT: “I feel very guilty about the treatment I got [that] I [wish was] more widely available to anyone in the world. I feel very guilty… there is such mental strain through all this time. A feeling of guilt because of the resources I have. I wish I could (share) the resources.”
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) February 11, 2021
Towns went on to describe the feeling of triumph he felt just being able to return to action after so much uncertainty surrounding his health and the unimaginable toll it’s taken on his family this past year.
Karl-Anthony Towns on overcoming COVID with all he and his family have endured: “I was just smiling on the court. I am so proud of myself just getting to this point… things got very serious. You get to a point where you just don’t feel like you will ever see that court again”
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) February 11, 2021
The outcome of the game was almost incidental. It was mostly just heartening to see KAT healthy and back doing what he loves, but his story of how difficult his battle with this virus was is a reminder of the need for continued vigilance in following safety protocols to try and protect as many people from this as possible.