Sometimes, fans courtside get hurt at an NBA game. Just usually not by the mascot.
But that happened at a Jan. 26 Timberwolves game — to Karl-Anthony Towns’ father.
And he is considering suing the team over it, according to Michael McCann of Sports Illustrated.Towns Sr., who is a retired high school basketball coach, was injured during a timeout with 5:53 to go in the second quarter. The Timberwolves’ prophetically named mascot, Crunch, appeared to lose balance towards the end of a high-speed sledding stunt and hit an empty front row seat next to the aisle. That seat, in turn, crashed into the right knee of Towns Sr., who was sitting next to the empty seat. The elder Towns is now exploring potential legal options, including the possibility of suing his son’s team for negligence....
Towns Sr. suffered considerable pain and was given an ice pack to reduce swelling. The Crossover has learned that while arena attendants encouraged Towns Sr. to leave the game and seek care at a local hospital, he refused to do so. Towns Sr. believed that his son—the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 2016—would notice his father’s absence. In turn, Towns Sr. reasoned, Towns Jr. might worry about his father’s health and not play as well. Towns Sr. stuck around for the rest of the game, but by the end, his knee had begun to swell considerably and he couldn’t put any weight on it. Arena attendants provided Towns Sr. with crutches. He hobbled out of the arena and was taken to a local hospital for an MRI.
A few teams do this same stunt.
Towns Sr. was seen All-Star weekend in New Orleans, reportedly on crutches.
I would imagine something gets worked out here, the last thing the franchise wants is to do something that might anger their new, young, franchise cornerstone player.