{"id":1924481,"date":"2026-05-08T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T06:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1924481"},"modified":"2026-05-08T09:00:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T06:00:43","slug":"meet-karl-anthony-towns-biggest-fan-the-mother-of-a-marine-killed-in-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1924481","title":{"rendered":"Meet Karl-Anthony Towns\u2019 biggest fan \u2014 the mother of a Marine killed in Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In her dining room, Kathleen Reinhard can still see the tall teenager at her son\u2019s funeral service in 2012. She is wearing a dark New York Knicks hoodie while sitting near a tray of her homemade banana bread, describing the church scene by pointing to different spots on her table.<\/p>\n

The altar was here. The casket was there. There were rows of pews here and here, and Karl-Anthony Towns was right over there.<\/p>\n

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Reinhard didn\u2019t know who Towns was on that winter morning inside St. Agnes Church in Clark, N.J. But she noticed the 6-foot-10 high school freshman, just like everyone else did. He happened to be the nation\u2019s best basketball player in his grade.<\/p>\n

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Towns was also a St. Joseph of Metuchen class president who thought he should be present for a fallen alum, a 25-year-old member of the United States Marine Corps who was among six killed in a helicopter crash while supporting combat operations in Afghanistan. Kevin Reinhard was once a strong 6-foot-4 volleyball player on a powerhouse St. Joe\u2019s team, and Towns was overwhelmed by the outpouring of affection and respect for him.<\/p>\n

At 16, he was already used to being celebrated in print. \u201cI grew up in an era when newspapers were making you feel like the best,\u201d Towns said. But as the ballplayer watched a community shut down and pack a church to honor a soldier lost in a faraway land, he felt something change inside of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor all the accomplishments I had, it meant nothing compared to what this man did,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was one of the most humbling things to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Towns had to do something, anything, to honor a Marine he had never met. So the following day, he scored 25 varsity points against Perth Amboy \u2014 one for every year Reinhard spent on the planet \u2014 and then shut it down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just stopped shooting,\u201d Towns recalled. His grandmother lived in Perth Amboy, and his entire family was in the stands, wanting him to add on to his new career high.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re screaming for me to shoot,\u201d he recalled. But Towns was done looking at the basket, he said, \u201cbecause I had learned what really mattered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another 6-foot-10 St. Joe\u2019s player, James Ziemba, recalled being stunned by his younger friend\u2019s maturity and awareness. Towns had quietly laid out his plan before tipoff. \u201cIt\u2019s a nice thing to want to do,\u201d Ziemba said, \u201cbut then to actually do it, as a freshman?<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat was Karl. He always wanted to be part of that community. It wasn\u2019t just a place for him to pass through and move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Reinhard family wasn\u2019t aware of this small act of kindness until they talked to school officials about starting a scholarship in Kevin\u2019s name. Someone mentioned what Towns did in the recent game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was blown away,\u201d Kathleen Reinhard said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the darkest time of my life when Kevin was killed, and you never know how you\u2019re going to come out. That one little gesture from Karl was beautiful and meant the world to us. Kids his age don\u2019t do things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Kathleen<\/p>\n
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\n Kathleen Reinhard and Karl-Anthony Towns share a moment after the Knicks\u2019 victory against the Raptors on April 10. (Courtesy of Kathleen Reinhard)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As Reinhard remembered it, she first spoke to Towns by phone. The freshman asked the nurse if she might want to watch him play. Reinhard told Towns she would try, but that she was having a hard time leaving her house.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the thought of going to the same gymnasium that Kevin played in,\u201d Reinhard said, \u201cI didn\u2019t know how I\u2019d react to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She ultimately called a girlfriend and asked her to join her at a St. Joe\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think Karl knows you are here?\u201d Cheryl Rudinski asked her in the stands.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows I\u2019m here,\u201d Kathleen replied.<\/p>\n

Towns played a great game, because that\u2019s what he so often did, and afterward they talked and hugged and parted ways. For most teenage phenoms, that would have been a wrap, time to move on. But Towns had been raised the right way by his father, Karl, and his mother, Jacqueline, so he knew enough in the coming months and years to leave his table and his half-eaten pizza at Joey D\u2019s in Metuchen to say hello to Reinhard when she stopped in.<\/p>\n

But life is for the living, and Towns had dreams. Big dreams. He earned that Kentucky scholarship, and that No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, and those four All-Star appearances for the Minnesota Timberwolves before these last two with his childhood team, the Knicks, who are trying to win their first championship since 1973.<\/p>\n

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All these years and tens of millions of dollars later, why did Towns stay connected to the 68-year-old woman whom he just hosted at a Knicks game last month? The woman whom he was texting before and after his Game 2 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think she realizes that she made a big impact on my life,\u201d Towns said as he dressed at his locker Wednesday night. \u201cI still think of her son all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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{“endpoint”:”https:\/\/api-prd-nyt.theathletic.com\/graphql”}<\/p>\n

That makes two of them.<\/p>\n

Gestures matter<\/h2>\n

Kathleen Reinhard was drinking from a coffee mug graced by the image of Kevin in his Marine Corps uniform. She turned over her left shoulder and pointed to the spot in her kitchen where her only son informed her one night that he was enlisting in the military. Kathleen wanted no part of it. She urged Kevin to finish college, but the decision was already made.<\/p>\n

As she told the story of her boy\u2019s final days, gusting winds snapped at the large American flag flying high above a small Marine Corps flag in front of her three-bedroom, ranch-style home. Her husband of 44 years, Jim, a longtime chemical operator, was tending to his green grass, pink azaleas, and his red, white and blue flowers in the back.<\/p>\n

Their son had been stationed in Hawaii at K\u0101ne\u02bbohe Bay. Kevin was a crew chief with HMH-363, a heavy helicopter squadron, who could take apart a helicopter and rebuild it by himself. His squadron was known as the Lucky Red Lions.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot so lucky in my book,\u201d Kathleen said.<\/p>\n

Kevin completed his first nine-month deployment in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, which was launched in 2001 in the wake of the 9\/11 terrorist attacks. He told his mother that he was shot at almost every day. \u201cBut I\u2019m OK,\u201d he assured her. \u201cI\u2019m up high enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crew chief loved nothing more than being in the air. \u201cThat\u2019s where he was always the happiest,\u201d Kathleen said.<\/p>\n

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Her son returned to New Jersey in 2011 before his second deployment, and Kathleen, Jim, Kevin and Kevin\u2019s only sibling, Kathleen Jr., took a trip to Ocean City, Md., where they had vacationed during the kids\u2019 childhood. They made sure to work in some go-kart racing, just like the old days.<\/p>\n

Shortly before his death, Kevin admitted to his mother that he should have listened to her and finished school so he could become a pilot. He spoke of completing his service and earning his bachelor\u2019s degree. Kevin and his sister agreed they would apply together for jobs with the New Jersey state police \u2014 she wanted to work in the detective bureau, and Kevin wanted to work on \u2014 what else? \u2014 a helicopter.<\/p>\n

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\n Kevin Reinhard was only six weeks from the end of his final deployment. (Ian O\u2019Connor \/ The Athletic)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Kevin and his older sister were best friends who took trips to the Jersey Shore during all seasons, walking through the snow on the beach and taking polar plunges on New Year\u2019s Eve. They made a promise to each other. If one died, the other would never leave his or her side.<\/p>\n

Kevin placed a short video call home on Jan. 17, 2012, thinking it was his sister\u2019s birthday, the 18th. The family laughed and discussed Kevin\u2019s college plans. They showed him his Shih Tzu, Stubby, waiting for him in his room. Kathleen and Jim had their airline reservations booked for a trip to Hawaii to see their son, who was only six weeks from the end of his final deployment.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe couldn\u2019t wait to go home,\u201d his sister said. Among other things, Kevin wanted to be reunited with his pride and joy, his black Nissan 350Z. He planned to reach out again the next day.<\/p>\n

That call never came. At 11:58 p.m. the following night, the Reinhards heard a knock at their door. Kathleen looked out the window. \u201cI didn\u2019t even turn the front light on,\u201d she said. \u201cI just saw stripes.\u201d<\/p>\n

She turned to her daughter and said, \u201cThis isn\u2019t going to be good,\u201d and walked away. Kathleen Jr. opened the door to find three military representatives and a police officer on the other side.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd everybody says, \u2018What\u2019s it like? Is it like the way it is on television?\u2019\u201d Kathleen said. \u201cYeah, they come in, and they read a piece of paper. \u2018On behalf of the President of the United States and a grateful nation, I\u2019m sorry to inform you that your son, Cpl. Kevin J. Reinhard, was killed in Helmand Province.\u2019 I have it. I have that paper somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Reinhards turned off the electric candle that remained lit in the window whenever Kevin was deployed, lowered their flag to half-staff, and drove to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to recover Kevin\u2019s remains. Kathleen Jr. kept her promise to her brother. She rode in the hearse on the way back home.<\/p>\n

Kevin\u2019s mother still doesn\u2019t believe she has the full story of what happened to her son\u2019s helicopter, which had been transporting ammunition and food to forward bases. NATO officials said there was no indication of enemy involvement, and she was told \u201ccatastrophic mechanical failure\u201d was to blame. But Kathleen can\u2019t understand how one of two helicopters that were waiting to land that day suddenly fell out of the sky in flames, claiming the lives of six American heroes.<\/p>\n

On her fireplace mantel, across the room from Kevin\u2019s framed St. Joseph graduation picture, Kathleen keeps a silver box containing letters of commendation and condolences from high-ranking government and military figures. The House of Representatives. The Secretary of the Navy. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got them all,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But at a memorial ceremony in Hawaii, Kathleen was hurt and angered when a sergeant major started to leave to catch a flight without approaching her individually. \u201cMy son came home in a box,\u201d she told him, \u201cbut you don\u2019t have the decency to say you\u2019re sorry?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gestures matter. Simple things are big things to a mother with a broken heart that time can\u2019t heal.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s how a young, gifted basketball player made a difference one day by scoring 25 points instead of 30.<\/p>\n

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\n Kathleen Reinhard holds up photos of her son, Kevin, in his Marine uniform and from his high school graduation. (Ian O\u2019Connor \/ The Athletic)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Getting to a game<\/h2>\n

Karl-Anthony Towns finally got Kathleen Reinhard tickets to a Knicks game, April 10, against the Toronto Raptors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the first time she ever asked me,\u201d Towns said. \u201cI said, \u2018You text me all the time, and I told you if you ever want to come to a game, let me know.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Reinhard started as a Kentucky fan when Towns played for John Calipari. As part of her therapy, she made blankets for Kevin\u2019s friends and for Towns and sent them with letters that said, \u201cI hope when you put this around you that you can feel the warmth and strength of Kevin\u2019s hug.\u201d Towns told Kathleen he became emotional when he read her note.<\/p>\n

Kevin\u2019s mother became a Timberwolves fan for Towns\u2019 first nine NBA seasons. Now, as a Villanova graduate with KAT playing alongside her fellow Wildcats \u2014 Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart \u2014 she\u2019s in all her glory as a Knicks fan. She even sends Towns messages during games so he\u2019ll get them when he\u2019s done playing, just to let him know she\u2019s watching.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always text him, \u2018Please stay safe both on and off the court,\u2019\u201d Kathleen said. \u201cEvery time.\u201d<\/p>\n

She feels deeply for Karl\u2019s own profound losses in his life \u2014 his mother and seven other relatives died after contracting the COVID-19 virus \u2014 and remains thankful that he\u2019s allowed her a chance to partake in his journey. \u201cBut Karl has such little privacy,\u201d Kathleen said, \u201cI don\u2019t want to infringe on whatever little time he has for himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

So she waited years to ask for her first set of tickets. \u201cI finally said, \u2018Karl, I\u2019m going to be 68. I want to see you in a game,\u2019\u201d Kathleen said. They decided that the first time she would see Karl play an NBA game in person would be the Raptors game five days before her birthday.<\/p>\n

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Towns reserved four Madison Square Garden seats for Kathleen, her sister, Mary Beth Gerrity, her nephew, Michael, and her nephew\u2019s fianc\u00e9e, May, near courtside. His seats. After finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds in a victory, Towns got Kevin\u2019s mother a photo on the midcourt logo and spent quality time with her. He signed her Knicks shirt and gave her a KAT jersey and some team gear.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe\u2019s one in a million,\u201d Kathleen said. \u201cMost people would push you aside, but Karl has not forgotten where he came from.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he dressed at his locker following the Knicks\u2019 Game 2 victory over the 76ers, Towns said he was raised to be a contributing member of his community and a man of his word. He wants to be defined by his philanthropy, not his perimeter range.<\/p>\n

\u201cTreating people the right way and doing what\u2019s best for others, that\u2019s what a true legacy is,\u201d Towns said. \u201cKevin made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Kathleen<\/p>\n
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\n Kathleen Reinhard shows off her Karl-Anthony Towns jersey and signed Knicks shirt. (Ian O\u2019Connor \/ The Athletic)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kathleen said her son shared some of Towns\u2019 best qualities. Kevin was a fun-loving and gentle giant who could walk into a room as a complete stranger and walk out knowing everyone. While once leading a race in a grade-school track meet, Kevin noticed a fellow runner struggling to keep up with the pack. He hit the brakes, doubled back to run side-by-side with the boy and let another competitor win.<\/p>\n

Kathleen never asked her son why he did that. \u201cI knew why,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard for her now to see Kevin\u2019s friends and classmates with their spouses and families, enjoying the life he was denied. But to keep Kevin\u2019s memory alive, she has her annual golf outing fundraiser at Forsgate Country Club on May 19 and a scholarship at St. Joseph in her son\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

And, of course, through KAT, she has her connection to her son and her beloved Knicks, who have a reasonable shot to win the NBA title. \u201cI know they\u2019re going to do it,\u201d Kathleen said.<\/p>\n

Karl-Anthony Towns can expect a few text messages between now and the parade.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In her dining room, Kathleen Reinhard can still see the tall teenager at her son\u2019s funeral service in 2012. She is wearing a dark New York Knicks hoodie while sitting near a tray of her homemade banana bread, describing the church scene by pointing to different spots on her table. The altar was here. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1924481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1924481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1924481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1924481\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1924481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1924481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1924481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}