Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns said Friday he tested positive for COVID-19.
The diagnosis is particularly difficult for Towns, whose mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, died at the age of 59 on April 13 due to complications from COVID-19. He had been dealing with the virus for a month.
Cities said before the season that six other family members also died from complications of the virus.
“Before tonight’s game, I received another awful call that I tested positive for COVID,” Towns said in a statement. statement distributed on social networks. “I will isolate immediately and follow every protocol. I pray every day that this nightmare of a virus will disappear and I ask everyone to continue to take it seriously by taking all the necessary precautions …
“It breaks my heart that my family, especially my father and sister, continue to suffer from the anxiety that comes with this diagnosis, because we know all too well what the end result might be. My niece and nephew … I promise you I will not end up in a box next to grandma and I’ll beat that. “
Minnesota announced earlier that its Friday night game against the Memphis Grizzlies has been postponed due to following contacts from the Timberwolves organization.
Gersson Rosas, the team’s president of basketball operations, told a news conference Friday that the organization has had two positive tests in the past two days and that one player is in the league’s contact tracking protocols.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Rosas said of Towns’ diagnosis. “For him it has to go through, for Karl Sr., his sister and nieces, it’s heartbreaking.”
The 25-year-old Towns missed six games this season with a wrist injury but returned to the field last week. He has an average of 22 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists in four games.