By MARK REY MONTEJO
The Dominican Republic may have fallen short in advancing to the finals phase of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup but star big man Karl-Anthony Towns was proud of his team’s performance in the biggest stage of the sport.
Towns also expressed his gratitude to those who supported their squad after the Dominicans bowed out of contention following a devastating 112-79 loss to Serbia on Sunday, Sept. 3, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“I’m blessed to have these guys. I’m so honored, [I’m] proud [of] every single guy we have here now. The people who played in [the] World Cup. The people we have here before we got here, I think it’s a huge thank you to everybody,” Towns said.
“Huge thank you to our country, to the fans, to our coaching [staff], to everyone who sent us love and support,” he added.
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ star topscored anew Dominican Republic with 25 points apart from posting seven rebounds – numbers that were not enough to help his team overcome a huge deficit that went to as many as 38 points – no thanks to Serbia skipper Bogdan Bognadovic.
Bognadovic led the team’s well-balanced attack with20 points on 7-of-7 field goals to lead the rout.
Despite their World Cup journey ending at the second round, Towns said what the team achieved certainly brought pride and happiness to their country.
“We brought a lot of happiness to a lot of families back home. I think that’s the beauty of basketball and sports,” said Towns, who also raved about the beauty of basketball as a universal language in a global showpiece like the World Cup.
“No matter what country you’re from, whether it be China, Japan, USA, Serbia, Slovenia [or] Dominican Republic. We all speak one language. That’s the beauty of sports, there are very, very few things that have a universal language: basketball is one of them.” he continued.
Towns, who averaged 24.4 points, 8 rebounds and 1.6 assists, in the tournament also lauded the Filipino crowd.
“It’s amazing, some of the biggest fanatics of basketball I’ve ever met in my life. I’m blessed I had the chance to play with some of the most crazy but loving, passionate basketball fans in the world,” he shared.
“I just see some of the best fans in the world. I appreciate them for making the game so fun and bringing the passion and having the air full of basketball energy,” he added.
