New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns is experiencing the best stretch of his NBA career, but the death of his mom, Jacqueline Cruz, still looms in the big man’s mind. Towns has been open about feeling the presence of his late mother throughout the NBA Finals.
How did Towns’ mother die? Cruz died in April 2020 amid complications from COVID-19. Towns’ mom was diagnosed with a blood clot prior to her death.
Cruz was just 58 years old at the time of her passing. She was survived by Towns’ dad, Karl Towns Sr., as well as the star’s sister, Lachelle Towns and brother, Marcus Towns.
“It was just one of those things,” Towns said of his mother’s bout with COVID during a 2021 interview on “Peace of Mind with Taraji,” via NBC News. “It just kept getting harder and harder and worse and worse on her, and no one really knew what they were doing.
“… As her son and someone who loves her so dearly, I just didn’t want to see her in pain, so I was trying to do everything possible to make her comfortable and get her better quicker.”
Here’s what you need to know about Towns’ bond with his late mother.
Karl-Anthony Towns’ Mom Jacqueline Cruz’s Cause of Death Is Tied to COVID
Unfortunately, the family lost more than just Cruz to COVID. Including his mom, Towns’ lost eight relatives to COVID, per NBC News’ Kerry Breen.
Towns’ mom may not be physically present at the NBA Finals, but the Knicks big man still senses her impact.
“I don’t know what it was, but I just felt a calm and a peace that, I don’t know, had to come from the woman above,” Towns told ESPN on June 3, following the Knicks’ Game 1 win over the Spurs. “So I felt really confident about today. I felt good. You know, I felt like a kid. It felt like it was just fun out here.
“This is something that as a kid, you always dream about. You always hope that you just hope to be an NBA player, let alone to be in the NBA Finals. And all day, it was just a weird feeling. It felt like I was a kid getting ready to go play my Saturday AAU games and Sunday AAU games. And in a way, I felt like I was seeing her in the stands. And it was just, it was fun,” Towns added.
“… It felt like a certain presence 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.”
Karl-Anthony Towns Wore a Hazmat Suit To Be With His Mother, Jacqueline, Prior to Her Death in 2020
Towns has spoken in great detail about the final weeks of his mother’s life. The NBA star revealed that he wore a hazmat suit to be with his mom during her final days amid the height of the pandemic.
“I flew in, I put the hazmat suit on and everything, and I went in there, because I was like ‘If anyone’s going to see her out, I’m going to see her out,’” Towns explained in 2021, per NBC News. “I knew it was going to be the last time, so I was kind of working that out.”
Karl-Anthony Town’s Mom Jacqueline’s Cause of Death: How Did KAT’s Mom Die?