For the first time in 539 days, Jamal Murray has finally returned to the court. After that devastating knee injury that happened at the tail end of a regular season game, it was great as an NBA fan to see him finally make another bucket, even if it’s still the preseason.

I didn’t even really realize he’d been gone quite that long. Even though we definitely covered the rash of injuries that happened around that period last year, it’s still a little surreal to be reminded that the Canadian guard has been out for a year and a half. Injuries are a fickle thing, and it’s great to see him back on the court.

I unfortunately can’t say the same about Karl-Anthony Towns, though, as according to ESPN, he was hospitalized with a throat infection and has lost a significant amount of weight.

He’s struggling with what’s been reported as a non-COVID illness, and considering his past issues with the disease, plus the tragic deaths that it caused in his family, I can’t help but hope that he gets healthy as soon as he can. It doesn’t matter if he can’t play for a while, because at this point, his long-term health is far more important.

Here’s hope that KAT’s health gets back in order soon. The guy could really use a run of good luck after a hellacious couple of years. He’s already had some other injury worries this year, too, which led him to go for stem cell treatments a few months ago.