By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
“As long as I can stand on my legs, I will be a member of the national team,” the 34-year-old said. “I have zero reasons not to be part of the team because I feel amazing every time I play for Greece. The national team is my second home.”
“Every time I hit the floor, I give my all to the national team. Greece has offered me so much and I want to give something back. This team has helped my career since I was really young. I’ll never forget that I was on the roster in the EuroBasket winning team in 2005, only 22 years old at the time. This team gave everything to me. I want to repay it,” the captain explained.
Bourousis, a member of the Zhejiang Lions in China’s CBA, does a 9,000 miles (or close to 14,500 kilometres) roundtrip to join Hellas in these European Qualifiers and then head back to East Asia.
“It’s not easy to make this trip, it’s quite tiresome. But since it’s New Year’s celebration in China, the team gave me the green light and then there was no way I was going to miss out on representing my country.”
“Throughout my career, I played in EuroLeague and really enjoyed it. But we have to look at the interest of the national teams. It’s very important to do so, ” he warned. “We need to find a solution that meets national needs. National team basketball is a too important thing for it to be devalued.”
Source: FIBA