Karl-Anthony Towns had to dig deep to muster up the willingness to play Wednesday night in the wake of losing several family members, including his mother, to the coronavirus.
Towns helped the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 111-101 victory over the Detroit Pistons. He had 22 points and 11 rebounds, but the game wasn’t on his mind and he offered some sobering remarks postgame.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
“When you go through what I’ve been through, you just find a different source of strength. I don’t know how to explain it. I made a promise to these guys to be here for them,” Towns said afterward.
“You may see me smiling and stuff, but that Karl died on April 13th. He’s never coming back. I don’t remember that man. I don’t know that man. You’re talking to the physical me, but my soul has been killed off a long time ago.”
DARYL MOREY ‘VERY COMFORTABLE’ WITH HONG KONG TWEET DESPITE IMMENSE BACKLASH
Towns told reporters earlier this month he has lost about seven family members to the deadly virus, including his mother Jacqueline Cruz-Towns. The Timberwolves put together a video tribute before tip-off.
Towns admitted that the death of his mother had been hard on him and that he didn’t think basketball would ever be “therapy” for him again, he told reporters earlier this month, via the Star Tribune. He said now he just wants to help families who have also been impacted by the virus.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“I’ve always been a person since I was young, I just never wanted people to feel that pain I felt, and that was one of those moments where I leaned back on myself. I didn’t want people to feel the way I felt and I wanted to try and keep them from having the ordeal and situation I was going through,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
