Why is Karl-Anthony Towns on World team? What to know about Knicks star KAT’s Dominican roots originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The NBA All-Star Game has adopted a new format this year, pitting a World team against U.S. squads.
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The hope is to up the competition level, but maybe one of the main takeaways fans will have is a bit of surprise that New York Knicks big fella Karl-Anthony Towns is on the World team.
He’ll be teaming up with the likes of Victor Wembanyama, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic, guys much more known for their international flavor.
KAT is proud of his heritage beyond the United States, too.
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Why is Karl-Anthony Towns on the World team?
Towns is on the World team thanks to his Dominican Republic roots.
His late mother was Dominican, and he honors her by representing that country in international play.
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Towns first suited up for the D.R. in 2012 in a friendly against the United States when he was just 16. His mother, Jacqueline Cruz, is from there.
KAT, who was born in New Jersey, had visited when he was 15 and felt a bond with the country.
“To see the way my mom’s country is, how beautiful it is, see a different side of the world, was eye-opening,” Towns told Andscape in 2017. “It was amazing,”
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Towns lost his mother due to complications with COVID-19 in 2020, and so since then, representing the Dominican Republic has meant even more to him.
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Towns returned to play for the D.R. in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
“With my mom’s passing, I felt an urgency to do it,” he told Olympics.com then.
He continues to represent the Dominican Republic whenever he gets the chance.
