Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns says he’s lucky to be alive after car accident
Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns says he had a five percent chance of surviving a car accident last Thursday when the car he was traveling in was hit by a semi-truck.
The two-time All-Star was reportedly on his way to the Minneapolis airport for the team’s trip to New York when the Hyundai Santa Fe he was traveling in came to a hard stop to avoid a separate accident in front of them. That’s when the vehicle was then hit by a semi-truck that was traveling 35-45 mph, according to TMZ.
Towns says he’s “lucky to be alive” following the near-fatal experience. The accident sidelined him for Minnesota’s game Friday against the Knicks and Saturday against the Bucks.
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“The accident could have went — I’d say I had a 5 percent chance of making it out alive,” Towns told reporters. “I hit the 5 percent mark. I’d say 4 percent was to be seriously injured, and 1 percent was to be minorly injured — and I came out in the 1 percent.”
ESPN noted that Towns was traveling with the team’s assistant strength and conditioning coach Kurt Joseph, who was driving the vehicle and remarked with a “stone-faced” that the semi-truck approaching in the rearview mirror was not slowing down.
“If I don’t have that seatbelt,” Towns said. “I’m going right through the windshield.”
The NBA star didn’t suffer any major injuries from the crash and declined an ambulance ride at the scene. But because he exhibited some concussion-like symptoms, Towns was held out of the past two games.
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“It could have been much worse. In all honesty, I probably should not have made it out like I did.”
The Timberwolves confirmed earlier that Towns had been given the green light to play in Monday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings.
“I’m not a guy to stay back to watch them work. I want to be there in person,” Towns said. “I want to high-five them coming off the court. I want to scream for them. I want to do everything I possibly can to be the best cheerleader I can possibly be.”
