Karl-Anthony Towns made his return to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night after missing the previous 13 games due to a bout with COVID-19. He played well in a 119-112 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, slotting back into the starting lineup and recording a double-double, and after the game, he spoke to the media and explained how his experience has led him to joining the chorus of players calling on the NBA to skip its planned All-Star festivities in Atlanta next month.
Towns — who has been vocal about how COVID has impacted his family, taking a number of loved ones including his mother, Jacqueline — explained that he went through quite the battle with the virus, saying that because he is a “high-risk case,” he went through a number of “scary nights.”
When it comes to the All-Star Game, Towns leaned on how close COVID-19 has been to him since the very beginning of the pandemic to lay out why he’s totally opposed to the idea.
“I personally don’t believe there should be an All-Star Game, but what the hell do I know?” Towns said, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “Sh*t, I obviously haven’t dealt with COVID, probably a guy who has some insight into that. What should I know about COVID, right?”
The NBA All-Star Game is scheduled to take place on March 7 in Atlanta. Towns joins a number of players — like LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and De’Aaron Fox — who have expressed skepticism over the game taking place. Some of the players who are opposed have cited the pandemic, while others have mentioned the grind of this season as reason why they would like to take a week to decompress in March.