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Karl-Anthony Towns Placed In NBA Health & Safety Protocols

The hits keep coming for Minnesota.

Dallas Mavericks v Minnesota Timberwolves Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

It was announced late Thursday afternoon that Karl-Anthony Towns has been added to the NBA’s Health & Safety Protocols:

The Minnesota Timberwolves released an updated injury report just a few hours before their game against the Utah Jazz, and the biggest addition to the laundry list of unavailable players was Towns, who now joins teammates Patrick Beverley, Anthony Edwards, Taurean Prince, Josh Okogie, Jarred Vanderbilt and McKinley Wright IV in the COVID-19 protocols:

The Wolves will now be without four of their five preferred starters against the Jazz, and it’s very likely a good chunk of these guys could miss additional games as well (Minnesota doesn’t play again until early next week when they host back-to-back home games on Monday and Tuesday).

Earlier on Thursday it was announced that the NBA and the NBAPA had agreed to a reduced quarantine period for COVID-positive players that would essentially allow players to return quicker rather than wait the full ten days:

It remains to be seen how quickly this new policy will be put in place, but with more and more NBA teams getting ravaged by COVID-19 outbreaks, the league continues to throw new policies and updated protocols at the wall hoping that something will stick and that game postponements (or cancelations) can ultimately be avoided.

The only thing that actually matters here is the health of not only Karl-Anthony Towns, but all of his teammates currently in the Health & Safety Protocol. After everything KAT has been through, I cannot even begin to fathom how frustrating and emotionally draining this must be for him to re-live this nightmare all over again. KAT expressed his frustration on Twitter moments after it was announced that he would be unavailable to play against the Jazz:

On behalf of everyone here at Canis, our thoughts and well wishes go out to Karl, his family, the team, and everyone else’s family as they continue to navigate these extremely difficult times. Please be safe, mask up, and continue to take extra precautions during this holiday season.