Chris Duarte debuts with the Dominican jersey against Panama
Dominican Chris Duarte, who plays for the Indiana Pacers in the NBA, announced Monday that he will debut with his country’s jersey for the elimination window that will face the Dominican Republic against Panama in Santo Domingo on August 25 with a view to the Basketball World Cup. next year.
Duarte, 25, has just participated in his first campaign in American professional basketball.
The player confirmed his participation by telephone to the management of the Caribbean team, according to the Dominican Basketball Federation in a statement.
After facing Panama, the Dominican quintet will play against Venezuela on August 29th and then will participate in the Copa de las Américas in Brazil.
Duarte, a graduate of the University of Oregon, was the Pacers’ 13th first-round pick in the 2021 NBA draft.
In the 2021-22 campaign, he played in 55 games averaging 28.0 minutes per game, 13.1 points per game, 4.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and shot 37% from the three-point range.
Duarte will join the other Dominican players who led the team to the second qualifying round with four wins and two losses, surpassed only by Canada who won all six of their Group C games, from which the Bahamas also advanced with 2-4.
They advanced to the second qualifying round and will merge with the top three spots in Group A (Venezuela and Argentina, both 5-1, and Panama 2-4), to form Group E.
Duarte, who was born in Puerto Plata (north), is one of three Dominicans who play in the NBA along with Al Horford, also a native of that city and a star figure for the Boston Celtics, and Karl Towns, star of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Basketball World Cup will be played between August and September 2023 in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan.