Karl-Anthony Towns’ COVID-19 nightmare is not ending.
The Timberwolves center announced Friday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus and would enter quarantine. He received news of the test result prior to his team’s game vs. the Grizzlies, which was postponed.
“I will immediately isolate and follow every protocol,” he wrote.
The news is another emotional blow to Towns, whose mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, died last April from COVID-19 complications. He made a stark reference to her death in his announcement.
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“To my niece and nephew, Jolani and Max, I promise you I will not end up in a box next to grandma and I will beat this,” he wrote.
Towns told reporters in December that six other family members have died of COVID-19 complications. Towns’ father also contracted the virus but recovered.
“I’ve seen a lot of coffins in the last seven months,” Towns said then.
The 25-year-old Towns played in just four of Minnesota’s first 11 games this season because of a dislocated wrist he suffered on Dec. 26 in the Timberwolves’ second game. Now COVID-19 will keep him sidelined for more games.
“I pray every day that this nightmare of a virus will subside and I beg everyone to take it seriously by taking all of the necessary precautions,” he wrote Friday.
