Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the Minnesota Timberwolves hugs his parents, Karl and Jackie Towns after winning the game against the Denver Nuggets of the game on April 11, 2018 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Karl-Anthony Towns and his mother Jackie Towns in 2018.
New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns says he felt his mother's "presence" during his team's win in Game 1 of the NBA Finals
Towns' mom, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, died in April 2020 from COVID-19
“I just felt a calm and a peace that had to be coming from the woman above,” Towns said after scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds during the June 3 game
There were no Game 1 jitters for New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns last night during the first game of the NBA Finals.
In fact, the NBA star told ESPN’s Inside the NBA that he felt a sense of “calm” and “peace” during the Wednesday, June 3 game, which he suspected might have been from the memory of his late mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns.
“I just felt a calm and a peace that had to be coming from the woman above,” Towns told the panel Wednesday night after he helped the Knicks defeat the San Antonio Spurs 105-95 to take a 1-0 series lead in the NBA Finals.
“I felt like a kid, it was just fun out here,” Towns reflected. “It’s just something as a kid that you always dream about. You always hope to just be an NBA player, let alone be in the NBA Finals. All day it was a weird feeling. It felt like I was a kid getting ready to go play my Saturday AAU games and Sunday AAU games.”
Towns continued: “In a way I felt like I was seeing her in the stands and it was fun. It was really fun. And it was comforting, because Game 1 of the NBA Finals you’re told how the pressure is going to be and how everything is, but I don’t know, it felt like a certain presence that was here that was very comforting and very loving and I felt like I could have fun out here in Game 1 of the NBA Finals which is the weirdest thing because you would expect to have the pressure at the highest.”
Towns’ mother Jacqueline died on April 13, 2020 from COVID-19 after being hospitalized with the virus for about a month. She was 58 years old.
“Jackie was many things to many people – a wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend,” Towns said in a statement after his mother’s death at the time. “The matriarch of the Towns family, she was an incredible source of strength; a fiery, caring, and extremely loving person, who touched everyone she met. Her passion was palpable and her energy will never be replaced.”
Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the New York Knicks handles the ball while Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs plays defense during the game during Game One of the 2026 NBA Finals on June 3, 2026 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the New York Knicks handles the ball while Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs plays defense during the game during Game One of the 2026 NBA Finals on June 3, 2026 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Towns later revealed that he lost seven family members in total to COVID-19 in 2020.
The NBA forward said that year was “the toughest year of my life,” explaining in a video that the death of his mother still hurt “so bad, every day."
Karl-Anthony Towns and mother JackieKarl-Anthony Towns and mother Jackie
Karl-Anthony Towns and mother Jackie Towns.
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Towns later got a tattoo with the numbers “4/13” to mark the date of his mother’s death, while he also wears a wristband with the date stitched into it, often paying tribute to her after big performances.
The NBA veteran notched another big performance Wednesday night with 18 points and 12 rebounds as he and the Knicks stormed back from an 18-point deficit in the third quarter to take Game 1 over the Spurs.
Game 2 of the NBA Finals takes place Friday, June 5, in San Antonio and airs on ESPN.