FIBA World Cup 2023: Why NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns is choosing to honour the Dominican Republic
It may have been a decade since he made his debut but the Minnesota Timberwolves’ big man has found a whole other level for his country at the 2023 FIBA World Cup and there’s an emotional reason why.
Basketball
Of the performances that have dominated the opening rounds of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the Dominican Republic's Karl-Anthony Towns’ have come up trumps.
48 hours after leading his country to a victory over hosts Philippines in front of a record-setting Basketball World Cup crowd with 26 points and 10 rebounds, the 27-year-old produced a consecutive double-double showing in an 87-82 upset against Italy.
Eye-catching, powerful, and tenacious, Towns’ play has perfectly encapsulated the immense love and pain bound up in the Minnesota Timberwolves player’s desire to pick up the Dominican jersey over a decade since he wore it last.
Karl-Anthony Towns: Representing his roots
Born in New Jersey to an American father, Karl Towns Sr., and a Dominican mother, Jacqueline Cruz, Towns was raised with a strong connection to his Caribbean roots.
At family gatherings on his mother’s side, which most often took the form of barbecues in the backyard, bachata, merengue and salsa music played in the background while the family tucked into traditional Dominican dishes.
The moment Towns’ bond was permanently forged with his motherland was during his first visit there when he was 15 years old.
“My whole life leading up to that point I’d only seen the USA. To see the way my mom’s country is, how beautiful it is, see a different side of the world, was eye-opening. It was amazing,” Towns told Andscape in 2017.
Like most dreamers from the Dominican Republic Towns’ first ambition was to become a professional baseball player; a fitting nod to the country’s national sport.
His burgeoning height, however, and having a father who was a basketball coach, would ultimately take him on a journey away from the pitcher’s mound and towards the world of hoops.
But when the world of international basketball would come knocking it would not be with his native country, the United States, that he would choose to suit up, but for the home of his mother.
Towns made his debut for the Dominican Republic in a friendly against the United States in Las Vegas back in 2012.
Back then, the US was on its way to its 14th Olympic title with a team that featured Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Durant.
With his dual nationality, Towns had the option to play for either team. And despite being just 16, it was already clear that his future could have been amongst the American giants if he had so wished.
But his heart, as it was growing up, was with the Dominican Republic and the young talent made his commitment to join the side at the 2013 FIBA AmeriCup.
“It was really special to me,” Towns continued to Andscape. “It was a chance to represent my mother and a big part of my family. It was an amazing experience. I was very excited. When an opportunity like that presents itself, it’s hard to say no.
“I made my decision and I never look back on it.”
Karl-Anthony Towns: An 'urgency' to play for the Dominican Republic
Despite the tournament holding great personal meaning to Towns it would be a decade before he was ready to suit up again for his country.
And in those 10 years away a lot changed in the life of Towns.
For one, he forged a reputation as one of the strongest big men in the NBA.
Voted Rookie of the Year in 2016 he would later become a three-time NBA All-Star (2018, 2019, 2022) and receive All-NBA Third Team honours in 2018 and again in 2022.
Last year, his name was splashed in headlines surrounding one of most ground-breaking, league-shaking trade deals ever conducted, with Frenchman Rudy Gobert brought into Minnesota for the ’Twin Towers’ trial involving Towns.
All of the accolades and experiences are undoubtedly valuable to one returning for international duty, but they are not ultimately the reason why Towns chose to come back.
That reason belongs in its own unique category.
In April 2020, Towns’ mother Jacqueline tragically passed away due to complications from the coronavirus. The unquantifiable heartbreak that followed struck Towns deeply with six more members of his family dying in similar circumstances.
With his mother's death Towns lost the primary point of connection between him and the Dominican Republic, and when the opportunity came to embody that at the World Cup the NBA star explained that it felt right to tap back into that bond.
“There was a lot that went into the decision,” Towns said to ESPN.
"The timing is right. I didn't put as much stress on my body this last season because of the injury. I'm feeling great now, I'm 100% and feeling like myself again. It's a perfect time to work on some things in my game. And with my mom's passing, I felt an urgency to do it."
After closely watching the Dominicans' stunning upset over Argentina on the final day of qualifying to clinch a World Cup spot, Towns knew the moment was there to once more represent his country, and his mother, with pride.
And that he has already begun to do in the tournament.
Now sitting on a 2-0 record the Dominicans are in pole position to make it to the second phase of the World Cup, and with Towns at the wheel, plenty are already imagining what more he might do with the rest of the tournament ahead.