If someone can talk about the burden of Covid-19 and how dangerous it can be, that’s definitely Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Minnesota Timberwolves star has seen the damage it can do firsthand, as he’s lost 7 family members – including his mother – and tested positive as well. Clearly, it’s no joke for him.
That’s why, now that he was finally able to be back on the court, the Dominican-American big man made sure to try and spread awareness on the virus, claiming that he doesn’t believe that it should be an All-Star Game this season, encouraging people to wear masks, and revealing some uncomfortable truths about the diagnosis. Here, we gathered some of the most insightful and powerful quotes from his press conference:
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: "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
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
Towns: "I don't personally do not believe there should be an All-Star game."
Went on to deadpan: "But what do I know? What experience have I had with COVID?"
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) February 11, 2021
KAT said his niece and nephew started crying when he tested positive 4 COVID
I said, 'Jolani, Max, why are you crying? Don't cry. Uncle is going to be fine. Don't worry about it.' …I remember one of the first things they told me was, 'That's what grandma said, aka, my mom.'"
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) February 11, 2021
Karl-Anthony Towns: "People complain about wearing a mask and these frontline workers are in with people dying and you can't wear one? Stop it."
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) February 11, 2021
The All-Star Game has raised a lot of controversies among players and rightfully so. Perhaps they shouldn’t even be playing in the middle of a pandemic.
At the end of the day, the league will know what to do with this situation, but they should at least listen to one of their stars, especially when he knows what is like to experience it firsthand.
