The story of Karl-Anthony Towns is often told through his historic perimeter shooting and big man versatility, but for Kathleen Reinhard, his story began long before the NBA had him. KAT left a mark on the Reinhard family on a winter night in 2012 when he was just a sixteen-year-old high school freshman. It was the darkest chapter of Kathleen’s life; her son, Kevin J. Reinhard, a 25-year-old United States Marine, had been killed in a helicopter crash while supporting combat operations in Afghanistan. As the community gathered at St. Agnes Church in Clark, N.J., to mourn a fallen hero, a teenage Towns — the nation’s top basketball prospect in his grade — sat among the pews, deeply humbled by an alum’s sacrifice.

KAT excelled in school as much as on the court, rising to class president at St. Joseph of Metuchen in his freshman year. As a student rep, he felt it was only right to pay respects to Reinhard, who had been a student-athlete at St. Joe’s years before. As a top-ranked prospect, Karl-Anthony Towns was already in the papers. But seeing the community’s outpouring for Reinhard, Towns felt a profound need to honor a man he had never met.

“For all the accomplishments I had, it meant nothing compared to what this man did,” he told The Athletic. “It was one of the most humbling things to be a part of.” The following night after the funeral, during a varsity game against Perth Amboy, Towns set out with a silent, singular mission: he would score exactly 25 points—one for every year Kevin Reinhard spent on this earth. Upon hitting the 25-point mark, the 6-foot-10 phenom simply stopped shooting.

When Kathleen Reinhard eventually learned of this quiet tribute through school officials, she was stunned by the maturity of a teenager who chose to honor her son’s legacy over his own glory. “I was blown away,” she remembered, reflecting on the beauty of the gesture during her time of grief. ” That one little gesture from Karl was beautiful and meant the world to us. Kids his age don’t do things like that.”

Despite his family screaming from the stands for him to break his career high, Karl-Anthony Towns refused to look at the basket again because, as he later recalled, he had finally “learned what really mattered.” While his family and supporters in the stands didn’t initially understand, his teammates, whom he had informed beforehand, were in awe of the new change in KAT.

As The Athletic revealed that the Knicks star and Kathleen maintain a strong friendship to date, the change Kevin Reinhard caused in one fellow alum is still visible.

Karl-Anthony Towns carries Kevin Reinhard’s memory for life

What began as a high school tribute evolved into a fourteen-year bond that has survived Karl-Anthony Towns’ rise from a Kentucky standout to the No. 1 overall pick and a multi-time NBA All-Star. While most teenage stars would have moved on, Towns remained a constant in Kathleen’s life. He stayed connected through his mother’s tragic passing from COVID-19 and through his blockbuster trade to the New York Knicks, Kathleen’s childhood team.

To this day, they exchange texts before and after games; Kathleen always sends a message telling him to “stay safe both on and off the court.” In April 2026, the relationship came full circle when Kathleen finally accepted Towns’ long-standing invitation to see him play in person.

At 68 years old, she watched from Towns’ personal courtside seats at Madison Square Garden as he led the Knicks to victory against the Raptors just five days before her birthday. After the game, the NBA star spent quality time with her, signing her Knicks shirt and posing for a photo on the midcourt logo. For Kathleen, that boy she met as a teenager, the day she lost her son, is a “one in a million” man who never forgot his roots or the family of the Marine who changed his perspective on life.

For Towns, the impact remains mutual. As he chases a championship with the Knicks, he carries the memory of Kevin Reinhard with him, viewing his philanthropy and his treatment of others as his true legacy. “Kevin made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us,” Towns said while dressing for a playoff game against the 76ers. “I still think of her son all the time.”

Through scholarship funds and an annual golf outing, Kathleen keeps Kevin’s memory alive, bolstered by the knowledge that one of the world’s greatest athletes is still running beside her in her grief.