By Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
The window in November is approaching and an agreement between the world federation and the EuroLeague has not yet been found about what will happen in the one week of November and the one of February were the two events are “falling” together. Many NBA players will also not be able to participate in the qualifiers as well.
Kamil Novak, the executive director of FIBA Europe, talked about NBA players not participating in the games and the -problems their absence might bring to some national teams.
When told that if the NBAers are not available, then the best players in the world will be absent and thus teams like Spain and France will have major problems to solve. Novak replied by saying: “I prefer to say the NBA players. Not the “best players”. We had a team that won the EuroBasket with only one NBA player. A big star, but only one player. NBA players are attractive to the world, but it’s hard to tell who the best players are.” He also stated the following: “The absence of NBA players will create room for other young prospects”.
“I hope that a solution will be found” Novak added. He also answered a question about whether FIBA partners are concerned about the absence of the NBAers from the qualifications stating: “These are speculations. We want to have the best players playing. I want to have an excellent event. We are talking about qualifying for the World Cup. This means that the teams will have the opportunity to go to the Olympic Games,” the director concluded by saying.
The NBA players furthermore will not be in November or February available to their national teams.