Karl-Anthony Towns highlights largest Latino presence ever in NBA Finals
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Juan Beltran, Contributor
- June 3, 2026
Multiple Dominicans and Boricuas set to meet in NBA Finals
The 2026 NBA Finals between Karl-Anthony Towns‘ New York Knicks and Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs has a distinctive Latino flavor only four years after Al Horford became the first native of the Dominican Republic to play in the NBA Finals.
Each team in the finals has a Latino, highlighted by Towns, a six-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer. Knicks guard Jose Alvarado has Puerto Rican and Mexican roots, so that’s even more sazon.
Horford, who joins Mexican American Mark Aguirre as the greatest Latinos in NBA history, made history two years ago with the Boston Celtics when he became the first Dominican to win an NBA title. Towns hopes to carry the lessons his mentor Horford taught him with the Dominican Republic national basketball team.
Karl-Anthony Towns carries Dominican lessons
“It’s just important just to impact winning,” the 7-foot, 248-pound Towns said. “I learned that a long time ago on the Dominican national team when I wasn’t playing and I was watching Al Horford and Francisco Garcia and them play in Venezuela.
“It’s just more important for me to be aggressive in my playmaking, whether it’s making the shot or making that right pass and getting our offense in a flow. For me, I just continue to do what’s gotten us here and continue to believe in our team.
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Aguirre, the son of a Mexican father and African American mother, made history in 1981 when the Dallas Mavericks made him the first Latino ever picked first overall in the NBA Draft.
Eight years later, the Chicago native became the first Latino to win an NBA title in 1989 when he won the first of two consecutive titles with the Detroit Pistons. Aguirre was one of the greats of his time. The Mavericks retired his No. 24 jersey in January.
Town, the son of an African American dad and Dominican mom, has represented his late mom’s Dominican internationally since he was a teen. In 2015 he became the second Latino and first Dominican American picked first overall in the NBA Draft.
Boricuas Jose Alvarado, Carter Bryant
Towns spent the first nine seasons of his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves before he was traded to the Knicks before last season. The 2015-2016 NBA Rookie of the Year was joined on the Knicks by Alvarado, a guard from Brooklyn.
San Antonio rookie forward Carter Bryant, who entered the NBA Draft after one year at the University of Arizona, has Puerto Rican roots from his mom’s side. His father is African American. He plays key minutes of the bench.
Small forward David Jones Garcia was born in Santo Domingo, D.R. He played 11 games for the Spurs this year, but he has not featured in the NBA playoffs.
Towns grew up in New Jersey, so he knows what it means for the Knicks to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. He will think of his mother Jackie, who died a little more than six years ago due to complication from COVID-19.
Remembering mom
“It means a lot,” he says. “It means a lot for my mother. When she emigrated from DR to New York, she saw Madison Square Garden for the first time and saw the energy the city has for Madison Square Garden and the Knicks. My mom, even to the day she passed, wasn’t big on the NBA rules, but one thing she did know was that only the best of the best perform and play at Madison Square Garden.
“To be able to have this moment in Knicks history where we’re back here, where New York has been hungry to be back in this Finals, it means a lot. It means a lot to me, my loved ones, to be part of the Knicks history that’s doing this.”
The Knicks won their last of two NBA titles in 1973. Towns hopes to end the Knicks’ 53-year championship drought just as he ended the franchise’s 27-year NBA Finals drought.
“You never know what life has for you,” Towns says. “You never know if you’ll get another opportunity. But just appreciating it and being grateful that you do get this opportunity is everything.
“My life has taught me a lot of different things, but one of the biggest things it’s always taught me is about the word grateful and just being grateful for all the good, all the bad that happens, and understanding that every single moment is a chance to grow.”
Juan Beltran
Contributor
Juan Beltran, who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador at 5 years old, is an experienced broadcast journalist
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