Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns dropped 60 points on March 14th against the San Antonio Spurs, putting on an absolute show. Following the contest when the team was on their plane back to Minneapolis, KAT addressed the entire group with a heartfelt message. Via Ramona Shelburne of ESPN:

“I just wanted to say, and I mean this from my heart, that I wouldn't have wanted to do this 60-point game with anyone else but y'all.

“My brothers. I appreciate you making this so special.”

But the most heartbreaking part of it all was the Timberwolves big man trying to text his mom after his massive performance, only to break down in tears shortly after:

He started scanning the hundreds of text messages he had received after the game from friends around the league and family who'd watched from afar. Then he started typing …

“I was so in the moment that I pulled my mom's number up to text her,” Towns says.

Halfway through the text, he caught himself and started crying.

“This was a moment for us,” Towns says. “She would've loved it.”

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Of course, Towns' mother passed away in April of 2020 because of COVID-19. In fact, countless members of his family have died due to the virus. KAT is having a fantastic season for the Timberwolves as they look to make a playoff run, but he admitted that once his mom was gone, it took a lot for him to find his purpose again in the game:

“My mom was the purpose of me even playing basketball,” he says. “So when she passed away, I had to repurpose myself. I had to find what was going to be the reason that I want to go in every day and put my body and my mind and my spirit through all this stress. Why would I do this?

“It took time and a lot of self-reflection.”

There's no doubt she would be proud of her son. KAT is averaging 24.7 points and 9.9 rebounds on a 40% clip from downtown for the Timberwolves, who currently sit in seventh place.