The NBA All-Star must’ve gone through a roller coaster of emotions.
Many NBA stars fell in love with the Philippines, and vice versa, when they came to the country for the FIBA World Cup last August. Off the bat, you’d think of Gilas Pilipinas’ Jordan Clarkson, Slovenia's Luka Doncic, and USA's Austin Reaves as huge crowd-favorites.
Among those who went through a similar experience in Manila was the Dominican Republic’s Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Minnesota Timberwolves big man was showered with love by Filipinos throughout the tournament (except perhaps during opening day when they faced Gilas Pilipinas).
On Tuesday, KAT created a short film about his journey in the FIBA World Cup and he made sure to include snippets of the fantastic time he had in the basketball-crazy Philippines.
The video, which was uploaded on Towns' Instagram, started with clips showing his road to the big stage. Then it showed KAT and his teammates having the time of their lives in the Philippines, enjoying the adulation of Filipino hoop fans during their bus rides from the hotel to the playing venue.
Of course, the three-time NBA All-Star had to flex his 19-point, 10-rebound performance against Gilas Pilipinas in front of a record-breaking 38,115 fans at the Philippine Arena. The Dominicana beat the Philippines, 87-81, in a hard-fought game.
The end of the video was a tribute to the Dominican Republic's physiotherapist, Baldimir Regalado, who died of a heart attack on their flight back home.
KAT’s tour of duty in the FIBA World Cup marked the first time he played for the Dominican Republic in 10 years. It was worth the wait as he led his birth country to a clean slate coming out of the group phase. In the second round, they came up short against Puerto Rico and eventual finalist Serbia.
(PM)