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Al Horford and Karl-Anthony Towns are the latest two NBA players to be confirmed for the FIBA World Cup, with both impressive big men set to play for the Dominican Republic.
With the veteran Al Horford and All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns cementing their frontcourt, the Dominican Republic will boast a stern defense and genuine interior threat on the offensive end, too. Interestingly, both big men are capable 3-point shooters as well.
Horford finished the 2022-23 NBA regular season among the best perimeter scorers in the league. He will also bring a vast amount of NBA experience to his team, having made multiple trips to the Eastern Conference Finals and a trip to the NBA Finals with the Boston Celtics.
Horford spent last season sitting out back-to-backs and having his minutes closely managed by the Celtics, so it will be interesting to see how much playing time he gets during the FIBA World Cup.
Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the best big men in the entire NBA and will likely look to dominate the FIBA World Cup and prove his credentials as a potential game-changing center for his team.
Towns missed four months of the 2022-23 NBA season with a Grade 3 calf sprain. As such, the All-Star center will likely look to use his time at the FIBA World Cup as off-season conditioning ahead of joining up with his Minnesota Timberwolves teammates for preseason later this year.
Chris Duarte will join Horford and Towns
The Dominican Republic will have a third NBA player on their FIBA World Cup roster, with Chris Duarte also being named to their squad for the tournament.
The Indiana Pacers forward made his debut for the Dominican Republic during an Americas Qualifiers game last year and instantly declared his pride in representing his country before setting his sights on the FIBA World Cup tournament:
"I want to be at the World Cup," Duarte said. "I really liked the experience. I loved the aggressiveness of the team and the pride with which we play. Another thing that left me very pleased is the great brotherhood in the team. Everyone cares about each other. We shared a lot, we talked a lot."
With Al Horford, Karl-Anthony Towns and Chris Duarte in their rotation the Dominican Republic will be among the better teams at the FIBA World Cup. Boasting three NBA talents is not something every roster in the tournament can enjoy, especially when two of those NBA talents are multi-time All-Stars.
The Dominican Republic has been placed into Group A for their opening games of the FIBA World Cup, where they will face Angola, the Philippines and Italy before potentially progressing to the next round.
It's worth noting how the Dominican Republic is projected to have a strong run in their Group A matchups and should be joint favorites with Italy to progress deeper into the tournament.
