"Catch my Spanish game": Karl-Anthony Towns actively attempts getting closer to Dominican heritage ahead of Paris Olympics

Karl-Anthony Towns was viewed as the future of Dominican Republic basketball when he was chosen to represent the country at only 16 years old. Behind Towns, their national team placed third in the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship and fourth at the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament. They were a whisker away from joining other basketball powerhouses in the 2012 London Olympics. Towns, however, kept himself out of national team duties until this year’s FIBA World Cup.

Towns was born in Edison, New Jersey but grew up in Piscataway, NJ. He was only in fifth grade when he started practicing with the junior varsity players at Piscataway Technical High School where his father was a coach. Most of his life he has spent in the US instead of his mother’s home country.

As the Minnesota Timberwolves star was born and bred in the US, it is understandable that his Spanish needs refinement. Dominican Spanish is the main language of his mother’s native land. It reportedly took its roots from Southern Spain. The three-time All-Star is proud to be putting in the work to be more proficient with the said dialect.

Karl-Anthony Towns kept basketball fans updated with this post on Twitter/X:

“Saludo @duolingo y el búho que nunca se calla. Catch my spanish game next time I'm in Dominican Republic #DuoMadeMeDoIt”

Duolingo describes itself as the world’s most popular app for learning languages. The site claims to be fun, where students can “earn points and unlock new levels while gaining real-world communication skills.” Towns highlighted that he is a top 10% Spanish learner in the said app.

Karl-Anthony Towns led the Dominican Republic in the 2023 FIBA World Cup where they were eliminated in the second round of the said competition. During huddles, the team’s coach had to speak a smattering of English together with Spanish to allow the superstar to understand the strategy. It might have been easier for both if Towns had been fluent in Spanish.

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Karl-Anthony Towns could still lead the Dominican Republic to the 2024 Paris Olympics

FIBA recently announced the results of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament draw. Four separate competitions will take place in Greece, Latvia, Spain and Puerto Rico. The winner of each pocket tournament will join the Olympic qualifiers.

If he decides to play, Karl-Anthony Towns will be in Greece from July 2-7, 2024. The Dominican Republic is in Group B together with the host country and Egypt. Group A is made up of Slovenia, New Zealand and Croatia.

Winning the tournament in Greece will be difficult but Anthony Edwards’ teammate, if he’s available, will make the Dominicans formidable. Towns nearly led the country to the 2012 Olympics. He might get the job this time and bring his national team to the 2024 Paris Olympics.