NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns says he has lost 7 family members to coronavirus

Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns said he has lost seven family members to COVID-19.

The star NBA player, who is preparing to start his sixth season in the NBA, said that the death of his uncle on Thursday marked the seventh death in his family connected to the coronavirus.

“I’ve been through a lot, obviously starting out with my mom,” Towns told ESPN on Friday. “I feel like I’ve been hardened a little bit by life and humbled.”

Towns’s mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, succumbed to complications from COVID-19 in April. She was 58, ESPN reported.

As his mother was fighting the disease in a medically induced coma, Towns posted an emotional video to Instagram in March to share his story and encourage others to stop the spread of the virus. 

“WE CAN BEAT THIS, BUT THIS IS SERIOUS AND WE NEED TO TAKE EVERY PRECAUTION,” he wrote at the time. “Sharing my story in the hopes that everyone stays at home!”

Following the death of his uncle, Towns shared on Friday that five other members of his family had also died as a result of the virus.

“I’ve seen a lot of coffins in the last seven months, eight months,” Towns said. “But I have a lot of people who have — in my family and my mom’s family — who have gotten COVID. I’m the one looking for answers still, trying to find how to keep them healthy.”

Towns’s father was also diagnosed with COVID-19 and hospitalized briefly in April. He has since recovered, The Washington Post reported.