ploto
08-14-2009, 11:36 AM
According to the AP article, Dirk wanted to play but said he would respect Cuban's decision.
It was just announced that Dirk Nowitzki will not participate in this year’s Eurobasket tournament.
The loss of the 7-0 NBA all-star forward severely hampers Germany’s chances in obtaining a spot in the 2010 World Championships.
The owner of Nowitzki’s NBA team, Mark Cuban, would not allow Nowitzki to take part in the championship, said the German basketball federation.
German Federation president Ingo Weiss showed understanding, as Nowitzki has played for team Germany in the last several international tournaments.
“Over the past 10 years, we’ve had an excellent and reliable partnership with Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks, who always made it possible for Dirk to play for the national team…” said Weiss. “We accept this decision completely.”
From a team standpoint, Nowitzki may be the most important player to miss, but this year’s Eurobasket will be missing several other key players because of injury, overextension or retirement.
Some of the big names include Andrei Kirilenko, José Calderón, Igor Rakočević, Theodoros Papaloukas, Luol Deng, Ramūnas Šiškauskas, and more.
http://www.interbasket.net/news/3111/2009/08/14/nowitzki-european-stars-to-miss-eurobasket-2009/
It was just announced that Dirk Nowitzki will not participate in this year’s Eurobasket tournament.
The loss of the 7-0 NBA all-star forward severely hampers Germany’s chances in obtaining a spot in the 2010 World Championships.
The owner of Nowitzki’s NBA team, Mark Cuban, would not allow Nowitzki to take part in the championship, said the German basketball federation.
German Federation president Ingo Weiss showed understanding, as Nowitzki has played for team Germany in the last several international tournaments.
“Over the past 10 years, we’ve had an excellent and reliable partnership with Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks, who always made it possible for Dirk to play for the national team…” said Weiss. “We accept this decision completely.”
From a team standpoint, Nowitzki may be the most important player to miss, but this year’s Eurobasket will be missing several other key players because of injury, overextension or retirement.
Some of the big names include Andrei Kirilenko, José Calderón, Igor Rakočević, Theodoros Papaloukas, Luol Deng, Ramūnas Šiškauskas, and more.
http://www.interbasket.net/news/3111/2009/08/14/nowitzki-european-stars-to-miss-eurobasket-2009/