Lorenzo Brown ? » A fan of the Spanish national team begins by describing Jorge Garbajosa. The president of the Spanish Basketball Federation spoke again about the case of the American, naturalized Spanish this summer for Euro 2022 when he has no ties with the country of the peninsula. Iberian.
As he had already expressed in recent weeks, the manager was sensitive to the fact that the leader » give up “to American citizenship, seeing there” a huge commitment » on his part. He also recalls that his arrival in selection, confirmed by the recent pre-selection made by Sergio Scariolocoincides with the wounds of Ricky Rubio and Carlos Alocen, coupled with the international retirement of Sergio Rodríguez.
» Just disapproving of his addition bothers me”displays the ex-international, in an interview with Marca. “More than 40 players have started in recent years. People say that by naturalizing a player in six years, we prevent young people from joining the team. But that’s not true, that’s a lie. He arrives to cover an important position. Giving it up would seem irresponsible to me. He is enthusiastic about playing for Spain. »
The president, in office since 2016, therefore considers that the sporting issue must take precedence over the rest with this 31-year-old player, one of the best evaluations of the last Euroleague with UNICS Kazan, passed by the NBA between 2013 and 2019 (Sixers, Wolves, Suns and Raptors).
With him, and despite the absence of many historical executives, this selection aims for a place on the podium. » This is not normal preparation for an extremely demanding tournament “, concedes the leader before citing a long list of candidates for the podium (France, Greece, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia…).
Jorge Garbajosa thus believes that » the challenge is probably the most difficult in recent years. But we will fight and do it as a team, as usual. Have Rudy (Fernandez) and (Sergio) Llull is huge. I’m sure we’ll come out of this tournament proud of our efforts. With a medal too? We’ll see. »
