{"id":1750,"date":"2026-06-13T23:34:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T23:34:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=1750"},"modified":"2026-06-13T23:34:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T23:34:55","slug":"how-karl-anthony-towns-is-remembering-his-late-mom-amid-the-knicks-nba-finals-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=1750","title":{"rendered":"How Karl-Anthony Towns is remembering his late mom amid the Knicks’ NBA Finals run"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Karl-Anthony Towns is missing his late mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, during the NBA Finals, but he knows she\u2019s there with him in spirit.<\/p>\n

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As the New York Knicks continue to face off against the San Antonio Spurs, Towns has paid tribute to his late mother on several occasions throughout the NBA Finals games.<\/p>\n

In April 2020, Towns\u00a0announced\u00a0that his mother had passed away due to complications related to the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

At the time, the basketball player was a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Following the death of Towns\u2019 mother, the NBA team shared the following\u00a0statement\u00a0from the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cJackie, as she was affectionately known among family and friends, had been battling the virus for more than a month when she succumbed on April 13th,\u201d the statement said. \u201cJackie was many things to many people \u2014 a wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

A month prior to his mother\u2019s death, Towns had revealed that both of his parents had contracted the coronavirus. His father was later sent home and instructed to quarantine there. However his mother was admitted to the hospital and placed on a ventilator.<\/p>\n

Below, see the various ways Towns has been honoring his mother at the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

Towns felt his mother\u2019s \u2018presence\u2019 at Game 1<\/h2>\n

During a post-game interview with\u00a0ESPN, Towns revealed that he felt his mother\u2019s presence during the first game of the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what it was, but I just felt a calm and a peace that I don\u2019t know, had to be coming from the woman above. So, I felt really confident about today. I felt good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Towns went on to say how he felt like he was \u201cseeing her in the stands.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really fun and it was really comforting because you know, game one of the NBA Finals you\u2019re told how the pressure is going to be and (how) everything is. And I don\u2019t know, it felt like a certain presence was here that was very comforting and very loving,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Towns said losing his mother helped him prepare for the pressure of his first NBA Finals<\/h2>\n

During a separate interview with ESPN, Towns was asked how often he has felt his mother\u2019s presence during the NBA Finals games. The basketball player went on to describe how losing his mother has shaped his life perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone hasn\u2019t lost parents, it\u2019s a different feeling. It\u2019s kind of unexplainable. I\u2019m always looking for signs. I pray, I go to sleep and I have a dream with her or just something that resonates with her. And, you know, I always feel her presence. I feel her love. I feel her grace. I feel her patience. I feel her smile,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Towns said his mother\u2019s presence \u201ccomforts\u201d him in challenging moments, like when the whole world is watching you in the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI know what it is to have a lot at stake. I know what it is to fail in those moments. And not with a basketball in my hand. These moments you talk about of high pressure that shake humans and shake people in those moments, I\u2019ve seen too much in a different aspect that you know, just it\u2019s basketball. The other things I dealt with is real life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Towns is giving it his all in the NBA Finals for his mother<\/h2>\n

Even though she\u2019s not here physically to cheer him on, Towns knows his mother is watching him play in the NBA Finals and he wants to make her proud.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do it for my mother\u2019s country. I do it for everybody in Dominican Republic. I do it for everyone in the city that welcomed my mother when she immigrated over. I do it for all my family in New Jersey that allowed me to be raised and allowed me to love this game of basketball and allowed me to be a kid with my mother and enjoy those times,\u201d he said during an interview with\u00a0ESPN.<\/p>\n

Towns got a tattoo in his mother\u2019s honor<\/h2>\n

While speaking with ESPN after the second game of the NBA Finals, Towns said losing a parent \u201cstrengthens you beyond measure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I got Philippians 4:13 and the date (of my mother\u2019s death) tattooed on my neck. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Towns went on to say he was \u201cstrengthened\u201d when he lost his mother and was inspired to get a tattoo of the Bible verse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know the significance it would have in my life when I became an adult. But what I do know is that I truly can do anything when I walk in faith, when I walk with the angels beside me, I feel anything\u2019s possible. I feel nothing\u2019s impossible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Towns often raises his hands up after games in honor of his mother<\/h2>\n

While speaking with\u00a0ESPN\u00a0after the second game of the NBA Finals, Towns reflected on a special moment where he was caught on camera looking to the sky and blowing a kiss to his late mother.<\/p>\n

The NBA player said anyone who has lost a parent looks for \u201csigns\u201d that they\u2019re still there with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll take any sign I can get. And I prayed to her strong before that possession (during the game),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Towns said he felt his mother\u2019s presence, as though she was guiding him during the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI take it as a sign. My mom is here with me. So I appreciate her so much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:<\/strong><\/p>\n