By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Upon the completion of the investigation conducted by the Turkish Basketball Federation on Shane Larkin and Scottie Wilbekin failing to report for international duty earlier in August, both players were suspended and fined.
The combo guards of Anadolu Efes and Fenerbahce Beko, respectively, missing five games to start the 2023-24 Turkiye Sigorta Basketbol Super Ligi Regular Season and paying a fine of approximately 3,000 euros, specifically 90,000 Turkish lira, will be the direct impact of the sanctions issued by TBF on Saturday.
Guided by experienced tactician Ergin Ataman, Turkiye won four straight games before falling to Croatia in the deciding contest of the recent Olympic Games Pre-Qualifying held in Istanbul. Ranking second overall fell short of securing a ticket to next summer’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
Federation president Hedo Turkoglu previously committed to clarifying the situation after the tournament.
Both Larkin and Wilbekin are eligible to represent Turkiye by covering the single naturalized slot available for every national team in each major international tournament, according to FIBA rules.
Larkin, 30, previously made his way to the final stage of the 2022 EuroBasket and Qualifiers of both the 2023 FIBA World Cup and 2022 EuroBasket. At the club level, playing for Efes since 2018 has been highlighted by capturing the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague championship in 2021 and 2022.
Wilbekin, 30, was a member of the final roster in the 2019 World Cup, after helping Turkiye clinch a berth in the previous edition of FIBA’s flagship event, and was also capped in the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers. The Florida product went from Darussafaka Dogus between 2015 and 2018 to Fener since last offseason.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL