2023-06-19 12:50:00
The 2023 World Cup is getting closer and closer and we continue our updates on NBA players who are announcing or withdrawing from the lists (not yet final). Today, Rui Hachimura joins the Japanese team while Domantas Sabonis seems to be moving away from the World Cup for Lithuania.
If the United States have already registered the presence of ten of their twelve players, many nations have not yet revealed their rosters for the World Cup. Nevertheless, commitments are taking shape and almost every day new participants are announced. Nikola Vucevic back with Montenegro, Ricky Rubio with Spain, Dennis Schröder with Germany, to name a few. We can add Rui Hachimura to this list now. In line with his solid end to the season with the Lakers, the strong winger will join the Japanese selection.
World hosts Japan (along with Indonesia and the Philippines) have revealed an expanded list of 25 players which will then have to be reduced to 12. Unsurprisingly, we find Rui Hachimura, the star of the team, but also Yuta Watanabe of the Nets. The Land of the Rising Sun is in Group E, otherwise known as the Group of Death, along with Finland, Australia and Germany. Suffice to say that it is not won..
We then move on to the Lithuanian side where the news is not necessarily crazy. The coach of the Baltic country has indeed declared to the Zalgiris on Air Podcast that its star player, Domantas Sabonis, is more likely to miss the World Cup than to play there.
“We all hope Domantas will play. However, we all know the valid reasons [qui pourraient l’empêcher de jouer]. If I had to comment on his chances today, I would say that they are less than 50%. Nevertheless, as long as there is hope, we will continue to believe in it.”
If Kazys Maksvytis has not really explained the reasons therefore, one could imagine that Sabonis is taking advantage of the off-season to treat his thumb injury in particular, which has been bothering him since December. A sore that did not prevent him from having a very big year in California and he could also be rewarded with an XXL contract this summer. In his absence, Jonas Valanciunas risks having a lot of work in the painting. Lithuania are in Group D, along with Mexico, Montenegro and Egypt.
Source text : Zalgiris On Air Podcast
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