Ersan Ilyasova has taken to Instagram to announce that he will not compete with Turkey at this month’s Eurobasket.
With the stresses of last season and with free agency, Ilyasova states that he is no mental condition to compete this summer.
With Turkey as the co-hosts, it comes as a blow to have one of the country’s best known players to be out of the picture.
“I left behind me a very hard season and passed through a process of free agency full of questions,” Ilyasova said on his Instagram post translated from Turkish.
“I am not in the physical or mental condition to help my national team. I have talked about the possibility of playing in the EuroBasket with the federation many times. Unfortunately, I will not be able to help our national team this summer.”
Ilyasova began his international career in 2006 at the FIBA World Cup in Japan. He won a silver in the same tournament in 2010.
Turkey will host the group phase and the final rounds at Eurobasket, both in Istanbul. They will face Serbia, Russia, Belgium, Latvia and Great Britain in Group D.
Translation by Anil Can Sedef
