T-Wolves exec helping lead NBA COVID-19 antibody study

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Minnesota Timberwolves vice president of basketball performance and technology Dr. Robby Sikka and the Mayo Clinic are leading an NBA study that aims to establish what percentage of NBA players, coaches, executives, and staff have developed antibodies to the coronavirus.

Blood samples will be collected via finger prick rather than drawing blood. The Mayo Clinic hopes the study will help validate the less invasive method, making it easier for widespread antibody testing in the general public, according to a memo obtained by ESPN's Malika Andrews.

All 30 teams are expected to take part in the initiative, which figures to be completed in June.

"We are learning about this disease," Sikka said, according to Andrews. "We have learned a lot in two months. So if we can take the next two months, learn on the fly, mitigate risk, then we can move pretty quickly to do the right things to have safe play."

The Mayo Clinic is located about an hour-and-a-half away from Minneapolis, where the Timberwolves reside.

Before his mother died from COVID-19, T-Wolves center Karl-Anthony Towns donated $100,000 to the academic medical center to help with testing. Towns' father also tested positive for the virus but has since recovered.

"It very much hit home for us," Sikka said. "I am never going to forget that experience with Karl. It changed my life, it changed his life, it changed our organization's history. It was extremely challenging for everybody."