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Crunch, the Minnesota Timberwolves mascot, injures Karl-Anthony Towns' dad

Ben Rohrbach
Senior NBA writer
What could go wrong? (Getty Images)
What could go wrong? (Getty Images)

Well, it’s certainly not the first time a couple of cats have clashed.

While riding a sled down an aisle of the Target Center on Thursday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ mascot, a faux wolf named Crunch, “blasted” the leg of Karl Towns Sr., father to Wolves star Karl-Anthony Towns (aka KAT), according to intrepid Associated Press beat reporter Jon Krawczynski.

The Wolves should hope this is the only time “crunch,” “blasted” and “Towns” are used in the same sentence.

According to Krawczynski, Crunch collided with KAT’s dad during a stunt the mascot has pulled for decades, without incident, and Towns Sr. watched the second half with an ice pack on his knee before exiting the arena on crutches. He reportedly will require an MRI. The younger Towns, who was left off the Western Conference All-Star roster despite a solid case for his inclusion, retweeted Krawczynski’s report after totaling 33 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a 109-103 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

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There are two apparent videos of Crunch’s sled routine on Thursday night — the first from a spectator who originally posted the footage on a Facebook fan forum for T-Wolves faithful called Flip’s Army:

… and the second shared on Twitter:

It’s difficult to tell from either angle where he collided with Towns Sr.’s leg, but at least you get a sense for the sort of speed Crunch built on his way down the staircase. Krawczynski reported that he’s never witnessed an injury in 20 years of watching the mascot sled down the stairs, which would make the odds of Crunch colliding with the father of the team’s franchise player roughly one in 15,871,920 (based on the simple calculation of 20 years, 41 home games per season and the capacity crowd of 19,356).

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Hopefully KAT doesn’t hold it against Crunch when it’s time to renegotiate his contract. Considering the team describes its mascot as “a truly born-in-the-wild wolf … born in the northernmost part of Minnesota’s wilderness areas,” Minnesota should’ve known Crunch would go astray at some point.

In all seriousness, here’s wishing a speedy recovery for Towns Sr., and if Crunch must sled down an aisle, maybe don’t pick the one directly between the Timberwolves’ bench and the locker room tunnel.

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!