One of the San Antonio Spurs stars has to miss Eurobasket 2025 after the NBA side competed with his national team to bring him back.
NBA basketball is still more than two months away, so NBA players are trying to test themselves by playing competitive basketball.
For European players, they focus on the 2025 Eurobasket Tournament. A few NBA players represent their home country to see who can be on top as the best.
So far, the warm-up game before the tournament has been very interesting. Luka Doncic impressed fans while outings in Slovenia.
Similarly, Nikola Djokic was equally impressive, but led Serbia. Unfortunately, one European NBA star misses the tournament. And that’s because the San Antonio Spurs insisted he’d be back.
Jeremy Sochan of the San Antonio Spurs will no longer be participating in Eurobasket 2025. Poland’s forward suffered a calf injury, and spur wanted to proceed with caution.
According to Polish journalist Lucas Seglinsky, the Spurs and the Polish national team had stabbed their heads on the issue.
“I am very disappointed, but unfortunately I am not able to play in Poland in Eurobasket due to a calf injury.
“I have worked so hard on this over the past few months, but the time I spent training and playing with the varsity team has been incredible.
“Doctors expect to fully recover before the start of training camp for the upcoming NBA season” (via BasketNews)
According to San Antonio Spurs’ GM Brian Wright, they coordinated with the Polish national team and agreed that Jeremy Sochan should recover in San Antonio.
“Due to the injury, Jeremy received expert help in Poland. The collaboration between the staff and management of the national team has always been exemplary. However, in this situation, it is the best option for Jeremy to return to San Antonio.”
Fans of the Polish team are pissed off by the Spurs making this decision, but in the best interests of Sochan and his future.
Calf tension is, as we’ve seen this season, a very dangerous injury. In many cases, they could suffer far more serious injuries, like Achilles’ tears.
Both Damien Lillard and Ty Halliburton dealt with calf tension just before their respective injuries to Achilles.
Therefore, it is correct for Spurs to regain Sochan and have them rehabilitate in a slow, safe environment without pressure.