AJ Edu was left speechless after receiving praise from Dominican Republic and NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns shortly after Gilas Pilipinas’ heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Dominican Republic in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 last Friday.
Edu served as the primary defender against the Minnesota Timberwolves star during the intense match that saw Towns amass 26 significant points and 10 rebounds, leading the Dominicans to an opening day victory against the host team.
The 6-foot-10 talent from Toledo was responsible for limiting Towns to a 5-of-16 shooting performance from the field, with most of Towns’ points coming from the free-throw line, where he converted 15-of-16 attempts.
“Wow. I mean, that’s just amazing right there. I didn’t know he said that, that’s awesome,” Edu responded during the post-game press conference, after being informed of Towns’ comments by a Filipino reporter.
“That’s the whole point of it, you know, you want to be competing with those guys, especially if that’s the level I’m aspiring to reach one day. I have to keep competing at that high level,” he added.
Edu expressed his enjoyment of the challenge posed by defending the three-time NBA All-Star, emphasizing that he must rise to occasions like this to realize his aspiration of entering the major basketball league one day.
“This is something that I won’t forget, right? I mean, this was such a blessing to experience, right? I mean, in front of our fans and I couldn’t hear anything every time we scored. It just shows the love out here. It was truly a blessing,” Edu said.
Edu concluded the game with seven points on a 3-of-3 shooting performance from the field, in addition to five rebounds and two blocks for Gilas.
