Coronavirus troubles Minnesota Timberwolves, 7 players in health protocols

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) – The Minnesota Timberwolves have been plagued by the coronavirus outbreak as Karl-Anthony Towns was the seventh Wolves player to enter the NBA's health protocols on Thursday.

The Timberwolves shared ineligible players report on Twitter before their game against the Utah Jazz as Minnesota star Towns was placed in the league's health and safety protocols.

The 26-year-old center-forward joined six teammates; Anthony Edwards, Patrick Beverley, Josh Okogie, Taurean Prince, Jarred Vanderbilt, and McKinley Wright IV as all are in protocols now.

Towns, one of the integral parts of the Timberwolves, averaged 24.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 30 league appearances this season.

In January, Towns said that he tested positive for coronavirus, months after his mother Jacqueline Cruz had died of COVID-19 complications in April 2020.

The Timberwolves have 15-17 win/loss record to sit in the ninth position in the Western Conference standings.

- NBA insists to play game

The NBA teams will go on to play the 2021-22 regular season even though many games had to be postponed due to the infections within teams last week.

On Tuesday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told an ESPN host, Malika Andrews that they are not planning to pause the season despite COVID-19 surges.

However the NBA previously suspended the remainder of the 2019-20 season in March 2020 after the Utah Jazz's French star Rudy Gobert had tested positive for the virus that rang alarm bells in the league.

Following Gobert's positive result, Donovan Mitchell caught the disease, becoming the second Utah player to test positive for COVID-19.

After a four-month dry spell due to the pandemic, the NBA resumed games at the end of July 2020 in Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, or largely called the Orlando Bubble, a safe and isolated place.