Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns was recently hospitalized due to a severe throat infection that left him struggling to breathe and on bed rest, according to Brian Windhorst. Towns, who missed the opening week of Wolves training camp with the illness, said he didn't get clearance to walk again until Saturday for a team event.
Following his release from the hospital, Towns spoke to reporters about the situation on Monday. Perhaps most notably, he said he was down to 231 pounds from a listed weight of 248.
"Shoutout to those people in the hospital, doing an amazing job getting me back healthy," Towns said. "Treating me so well. Just happy to be back on the court. ... I'm still recovering. I'm still getting better. There was more drastic things to worry about than basketball [during the illness]."
Towns will not play in the Wolves' preseason opener on Tuesday night against the Miami Heat, and it's unclear when he'll be able to play. Though he hopes to be ready for the regular-season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Oct. 19, he has not participated in contract drills and still needs to improve his conditioning.
"I'm just taking my time, let the docs and my body take its course and do what it needs to do to get back," Towns said. "Whatever the case may be, if it's preseason and it looks pretty good for it, we'll just see as the days go by. I don't want to promise anything."
The good news is that this doesn't seem like it will be a long-term issue for Towns. Still, it is not an ideal way to begin such an important season for the new-look Wolves. Training camp was set to be especially important this year as the team seeks to integrate their blockbuster offseason acquisition, Rudy Gobert. Towns, in particular, was facing the biggest adjustment period and has now missed out on some critical practice time next to his new frontcourt partner.
Whenever Towns does get back on the court, there will be serious questions and expectations for him and the Wolves. He himself proclaimed it is now "championship or bust" in the summer and that "there are no more excuses."
"I expect a lot of winning, for sure," Towns said. "I want to win. I'm not up here just blowing smoke. I really want to try to bring a championship right here to Minnesota. I think Rudy adds a huge component to that. He's gonna be a massive part of us being a championship team. My job is to help him as much as he's going to help me. His strengths are my weaknesses and his weaknesses are my strengths, so we'll be able to play off of each other."
