Texas Basketball: Pacers C Myles Turner donates 50K for COVID-19 relief

An ex-member of the Texas basketball program, and Indiana Pacers big man Myles Turner made a kind gesture recently by donating to help with COVID-19.

A former star and ultra-highly touted five-star recruit of the Texas basketball program, current Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner, saw his name in headlines over the weekend for reasons away from the hardwood. Turner reportedly (CBS DFW) donated $50K to the Texas Health Resources group following his father’s recovery from the novel coronavirus.

The father of the former star big man of the Texas Longhorns basketball program Turner reportedly (Dan Feldman of NBC Sports) survived his battle with COVID-19 last month. His father was treated at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Hurst-Euless-Bedford. Turner still has family in the Dallas Fort-Worth Metroplex, and he is a Beford, TX, native.

There were a few posts that Turner had retweeted that showed up on his Twitter timeline in the last couple of days, associated with his donation to Texas Health Resources. It’s nice to see the type of positive news that a lot of people need to hear right now.

The COVID-19 pandemic placed a hiatus on the NBA regular season back on March 11, after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus and cancelled a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. College basketball saw pretty much all of its postseason tournaments cancelled too around the same time period. Texas didn’t get to take part in their first Big 12 Tournament game, which was supposed to come on March 12 against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

The entirety of the NCAA Tournament (for men’s and women’s hoops) was cancelled prior to the arrival of Selection Sunday.

Moreover, Turner played for the Longhorns men’s hoops team for one season back during the 2014-15 campaign. He played for Texas in the final year under former head coach Rick Barnes. Turner was an All-Big 12 honoree, All-Big 12 Defensive Team selection, and 2014-15 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year during his freshman campaign.

The 24-year-old Turner was the 11th overall pick of the Pacers in the 2015 NBA Draft. He has played in every single one of his five seasons since in a Pacers uniform.

And for more information on COVID-19, you can visit the CDC’s website.