Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara won’t play in FIBA EuroBasket 2025 with the Belgian national team this summer in order to focus on his NBA development, the Belgium Basketball Federation announced in a statement.
The statement was translated to English in an article from Eurohoops.net:
“Toumani Camara is also eager to play for the national team. However, this summer is not the ideal time to join the Belgian Lions, as he is focused on taking an important next step in his NBA career.”
The
Belgium Basketball Federation said that Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell also won’t play for the national team in the international tournament, set to take place from Aug. 27 to Sept. 14. Mitchell is prioritizing to rest and recover from a foot injury after a long season with the Thunder.
Elsewhere in the NBA, LA Clippers forward Nicolas Batum won’t participate in the tournament because he announced he is retiring from play with the French national team. The former Blazers player is set to serve as a broadcast analyst for France’s games at the upcoming tournament. Batum, 36, is entering his 18th NBA season in the fall.
Camara is the second Trail Blazer this summer to choose not to participate in an international tournament in order to focus on personal NBA development. Blazers rookie center Yang Hansen won’t participate in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup with the Chinese national team from Aug. 5-17. Instead, Yang elected to stay in Portland for optional workouts organized by the Trail Blazers.
Blazers forward Deni Avdija does plan to play at EuroBasket 2025 with the Israeli national team.
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