Fiba World Cup: Karl-Anthony Towns, Dominican teammates find home at Big Dome

Dominican Republic’s Karl-Anthony Towns celebrates after beating Angola and sweeping Group A of the Fiba World Cup. -FIBA PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Araneta Coliseum is located at the heart of Quezon City in the Philippines.

For about five loud and proud minutes, it may have very well been in the Dominican Republic.

“Dominican Republic got to be really happy about the plays we did out there. We’re making them proud, I feel it,” said the Caribbean country’s national team standout and NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns on Tuesday.

Towns has always been labeled as an emotional player—for better or worse—so it wasn’t all that surprising when the big Dominican’s emotions literally overflowed when his country swept Group A of the 2023 Fiba World Cup to advance to the next phase.

“It’s about winning basketball. I knew my moment would come when I needed to step up, make the shots and do what I needed to do,” he said.

After the Dominicans’ 75-67 victory over Angola, Towns entered the mixed zone, seemingly wanting to be done with the interviews so he could zoom to the locker room to get a breather.

After all, he didn’t have the best of games against the Angolans. As early as the six-minute mark of the opening quarter, Towns was slapped with three fouls, including one technical—his emotions rearing its ugly head.

“We fought through adversity. You know it’s all about winning…” Towns said, pausing and looking at the exit area of the interview zone all the while.

The flashing lights of phone cameras and enormous boom microphones snapped the NBA All-Star’s attention back to his analysis of the game.

“I thought I was gonna start the third (quarter) for things to happen. In the fourth quarter, I felt that I had to do my job and close the game out. I’m glad I was able to help,” he said.

Dominican Republic’s Karl-Anthony Towns. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Despite playing for only 15 minutes due to foul trouble, Towns still was a factor in the Dominicans’ win with eight points and two rebounds.

Don’t let those numbers fool you, though. Towns is the undisputed anchor of this Dominican squad which defeated Italy, the Philippines and Angola, averaging 19.3 points and 7.7 rebounds in the process.

“I know a lot of people didn’t expect us to do these but we expected ourselves to do it so I’m very happy that we get to shock the world and show the world what we’ve been working on,” he said.

When he reached the end of the mixed zone, Towns called on the Fiba volunteers attention, pointing at the barricade separating the mixed zone from the lobby.

“Y’all good over there?” Towns said, talking to the mass of Dominicans in the lobby of the Araneta Coliseum.

DOMINICAN LOVE

“DOMINICANA! DOMINICANA!” 🇩🇴❤️

3-0 in Group A and Karl-Anthony Towns went out of his way to celebrate with DR fans at Araneta Coliseum. Absolute scenes. #FIBAWC @INQUIRERSports pic.twitter.com/bRHKiwKRCA

— Rommel Fuertes Jr. (@MeloFuertesINQ) August 29, 2023

A number of people started assembling in the arena’s red gate. Most were Dominicans draping the flag of their home country on their shoulders. Some were Dominican Republic faithful with the word “DOMINICANA,” embroidered on their scarves. And a few were just big Karl-Anthony Towns fans wearing replicas of his Minnesota jersey.

They all had one thing in common, though. They all hold a special love for the game of basketball, the same way the Dominican Republic loves the sport.

Love isn’t a foreign element for the Dominicans. In fact, love—the one that coach Nestor Garcia has for his team—was a factor in the Dominican Republic’s upset win over Italy.

“He (Garcia) believes in us. All he told us in the back was, ‘I love you, I know you guys will find a way,’ so we found a way [to win] and found a way to reciprocate his love,” said Towns after their win against the 10th best team in the world last Sunday.

Love was the same thing Towns showed his supporters right after.

Towns ran to the Coliseum’s lobby as soon as the volunteers opened the barricade to join a frenzy of fans celebrating the monumental win.

“Dominicana! Dominicana!” chanted the fans in unison while hugging Towns.

Amid the love and for at least five minutes, Towns was just one of the Dominican supporters—not an NBA star, not a University of Kentucky legend. Just one bigger-than-average party dude celebrating with his pals.

Araneta Coliseum felt like home for the Dominicans. Including Towns.