Hedo Turkoglu spoke about how two Turkish stars introduced their LA Lakers and Boston Celtics rivalry of their battle for choice.
With the NBA at present within the midst of the offseason, NBA gamers try to maintain themselves lively and prepared forward of their respective coaching camps.
A number of gamers want to signify their nationwide groups in numerous worldwide tournaments this summer time. Whereas there aren’t any Olympics or a FIBA World Cup, there are smaller-scale occasions taking place on this planet.
Jonathan Kuminga hoped to signify Congo on the FIBA Africa match. However Kuminga’s contract dispute with the Warriors value him that probability.
A bit larger on the globe, Luka Doncic is ready to check his physique with Slovenia, as he appears to be like to win the EuroBasket match with the nationwide staff.
However there’s one other European staff that has two former NBA stars battling it out for a spot on the roster. And it appears to be like like a legendary NBA rivalry is seeping its approach into this duel.
Hedo Turkoglu, a former NBA star and present president of the Turkish Basketball Federation, spoke in an interview with HT Spor.
He shed some mild on the choice battle between former NBA stars Kendrick Nunn and Shane Larkin, and what led to them snubbing the previous Lakers star (Nunn) and sticking with former Celtics star Larkin.
“We had been actually desirous about the opportunity of buying Kendrick Nunn, however after a dialog with Shane Larkin and his seen will and dedication, we didn’t take steps in that course.
“Yeah, there have been inside dialogues in our Federation about Kendrick Nunn, identical to with all the opposite gamers, however that’s all, actually.
“In fact, folks discuss it as a result of Ergin Ataman is teaching him in the identical membership, however there have been no concrete steps from our aspect.
“Larkin had a few unfortunate experiences with our nationwide staff prior to now, together with suspension, however he’s been in Turkey for years, and he has proven nice dedication all through the years.
“Larkin desires to succeed with our nationwide staff, and we determined to maintain going with him.” (H/T by way of BasketNews)
It’s fairly attention-grabbing that the selection between the 2 stars occurred to be between a former LA Lakers star and a former Boston Celtics star.
It simply goes to point out how legendary the rivalry between the 2 sides has been and continues to be.
Subsequent season, the LA Lakers will attempt to compete for an NBA championship. Not simply because the Lakers need to capitalize on LeBron James and Luka Doncic’s pairing, however for one more huge cause.
In 2024, when the Boston Celtics received the NBA championship, they regained their spot because the winningest franchise in NBA historical past, with their 18th title.
This ended a four-year-long impasse between them and the LA Lakers, as they had been each tied at 17 NBA championships after the Lakers received the title in 2020.
Can the Lakers get it performed? It seems LeBron James and Luka Doncic are in lockstep in pursuit of their championship objectives and can work very exhausting to make it occur.
