Karl-Anthony Towns Returns to Knicks After Attending Funeral of Family Friend Who Died of Breast Cancer: 'Had to Be There'

Mar. 15, 2025

Karl-Anthony Towns.Photo:Justin Casterline/Getty

Justin Casterline/Getty

Karl-Anthony Townsis returning to the basketball court after taking time off to attend the funeral of a family friend.

“This is one of those moments where I had to be there for my family and be there for the kids that lost somebody really special to them,” the 29-year-old New York Knicks player said Thursday, March 6, as he joined his team in Los Angeles to take on the Lakers, theNew York Postreported.

The NBA player also shared a photo of the late family friend, Sarah Holtzman, on his Instagram Stories earlier in the day.

Karl Anthony-Towns.Justin Casterline/Getty

In the picture, he and Holtzman smiled as they posed together, with her holding up one of his autographed jerseys.

Towns’ girlfriend,Jordyn Woods, reposted the image.

Over on her Instagram account, the 27-year-old model shared a tribute, referring to Holtzman as her aunt.

“My guardian angels 🤍🕊️,” the television personality captioneda carouselthat began with a photo of her late father, John Woods, sitting with Holtzman.

John died of cancer in 2017.

“I’ve had some time to sit with this and can’t seem to find the words to do you justice. Aunt Sarah wouldn’t want us to feel sorry she would want us to celebrate her life. Love you forever and thank you all for your messages,” Jordyn concluded.

“F— Cancer,”Jordyn tweetedtwo days before Towns’ return to the basketball court.

In a follow-uppost on XThursday morning, she wrote, “Thank you for all of your prayers and concern. I had to bury one of the closest people to me yesterday after she lost her battle to breast cancer. Life isn’t always fair. She will be missed tremendously.”

Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordyn Woods, June 2024.Ricky Vigil M/Getty

Ricky Vigil M/Getty

Jordyn and Towns began datingin 2020 after years of being friends.

During a September 2020 interview withExtrato discuss her upcoming BET film,Trigger, she told the outlet that she and Towns bonded over both losing a parent.

Recalling how the Knicks star lost his mother to COVID-19 in April of that year, Jordyn said they ″connected aboutlosing a parentat a very young age.″

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″So, it was a very organic relationship that we’d been best friends for a while," she said.

Earlier in the interview she toldExtra, ″I just think that when you find the right one, you can learn even more about yourself. It’s about learning to evolve with someone. The right person will bring a lot out of you."

source: people.com