Brodsky: How could you not want to play for the national team when your peers are dying?

President of the Ukrainian Basketball Federation Mikhail Brodsky The absence of a number of players in the national team of Ukraine, which recently completed their performance in the qualifying tournament of the 2024 Olympic Games, evaluated the situation.

“I want to start with the situation with Slava Kravtsov. A true captain, this man came to play for the national team at the age of 35. How many years have I been in the Federation, 30 years in basketball, I have not heard anything bad about him – he is an example for everyone. And Kravtsov always gave results. Maybe if there was a big rotation it wouldn’t have happened to him, but that’s an assumption.

Slava Petrov and Sergey Pavlov also came to the national team and were injured. Petrov will recover faster, Pavlov was also seriously injured. They also have great respect.

Great respect is also shown to all other men, youths and veterans who get their way in the national team.

To say that they are doing their best … I would like more. I wanted to participate in the Olympic qualifiers, but it was apparently impossible to recruit the Turkish and Croatian national teams, determined to bring their best players from the NBA and Euroleague and win.

Separately, I want to say about our “Americans”. Skapintsev – I don’t understand you, Dima. Unfortunately, at my basketball school they were only concerned with training the players, not their personalities. As an individual, you grew up within your families. But it seems to me that you signed a contract at the beginning of August, then you can get on the plane and fly to the national team. I don’t know the contract details, was there a ban on playing in the national team?

I can say the same for Aziz. Yes, I would love to sign a contract in the USA or maybe Greece. Probably playing in the national team without a contract is risky, but Kravtsov played. You are not poor people and leave it to your conscience. Personal well-being is important, but Fatherland duty should also be given, my friends. I’m not talking about everything else.

Alex Len. I’d like to believe you really can’t but the green card saga has been going on for a long time.

Those who remain after the operation, no question for them. Lipovoy, Sanon, Gerun gave information. It reminded me of school when we brought certificates that we were not allowed to run, jump or do anything for two weeks or a month. If a person really wants, he gains strength in himself. I would not like to think that the conflict in the press with the leadership of Prometheus somehow influenced the decision of Lipovoy or Sanon.

How can you not want to play for the national team when your peers are dying today… I don’t want to say the number, we don’t know, but dozens of people die every day for sure… to die. It seems to me that each of you had to come and do everything to fight for the Fatherland … not under the bullets that you did not reach by the will of fate, especially thanks to basketball. Just to come, maybe to risk injury, but to give our citizens in our country a momentary sense of victory, pleasure, joy. This is what you have to do. In our time, you can’t just take it to the national team, as Medvedenko did, today everyone must give their people what they can and can do.

I hope this tournament in Istanbul will make us and you think about what happened and it will not happen again. We have a good coaching staff – Ukrainians work hard. Let’s unite somehow and we will not do this again,” said Mikhail Brodsky.

The Ukrainian national team reached the semi-finals of the qualifying Olympic tournament, where they lost to Croatia (70:85).