The Crossover has learned that Karl Towns Sr.—the 54-year-old father of Timberwolves star center Karl–Anthony Towns Jr.—has been assessing the potential legal ramifications of a significant leg injury he suffered during the Timberwolves home game against the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 26. Towns Sr., who is a retired high school basketball coach, was injured during a timeout with 5:53 to go in the second quarter. The Timberwolves’ prophetically named mascot, Crunch, appeared to lose balance towards the end of a high-speed sledding stunt and hit an empty front row seat next to the aisle. That seat, in turn, crashed into the right knee of Towns Sr., who was sitting next to the empty seat. The elder Towns is now exploring potential legal options, including the possibility of suing his son’s team for negligence. The use of a sled by Crunch was not something new in the Target Center. It’s also not new for an NBA team mascot, as the Utah Jazz “Bear” has sled down aisles during games in Salt Lake City. Crunch has a routine where, during timeouts, he sleds down stairs in the lower bowl near the court. Crunch isn’t supposed to hit any seats during the slide, but unfortunately for Towns Sr., the mascot did so on Jan. 26. Towns Sr. suffered considerable pain and was given an ice pack to reduce swelling. The Crossover has learned that while arena attendants encouraged Towns Sr. to leave the game and seek care at a local hospital, he refused to do so. Towns Sr. believed that his son—the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2016—would notice his father’s absence. In turn, Towns Sr. reasoned, Towns Jr. might worry about his father’s health and not play as well. Towns Sr. stuck around for the rest of the game, but by the end, his knee had begun to swell considerably and he couldn’t put any weight on it. Arena attendants provided Towns Sr. with crutches. He hobbled out of the arena and was taken to a local hospital for an MRI. Three weeks later, Towns Sr. was spotted at All-Star Weekend’s Rising Stars Challenge, in which his son played. Towns Sr. was on crutches at the time and appeared to be moving in pain. http://www.si.com/nba/2017/03/03/ka...olves-mascot-crunch?xid=socialflow_twitter_si
It sounds like father and son are pretty close. The dad didn't want to leave the game because he didn't want his son to notice his absence and worry about him. As much as I love to see MIN wallow in ineptitude, I'd hate to see this cause bad blood between KAT and the organization. That guy is just so talented. Now that we have our own talented, young big man, I want to see a decade of epic inter-conference battles between Nurk and KAT. BNM
A reporter should call the main character in an article and ask him questions. You often read someone saying that an article about himself is incomplete because the reporter did not contact him.
How does it get to this? How does KAT's dad threaten legal action? Did the Wolves blow him off? Seems ludicrous. They may also factor in that in 1998 the Undertaker threw Mankind off Hell In A Cell and he plummeted sixteen feet through an announcer's table.
I wasn't aware that Pixar made a prequel to The Incredibles. Good to know. I'll look for it on Netflix. BNM
My guess: Both the team and the superstar's father expect the team to pay the father. The team isn't fighting it. The only reason the father got a lawyer was to negotiate for more money than the father could have obtained by himself. The risk to the team is that negotiations become prolonged, alienating their superstar. The team needs to conclude this now.
