By the Eurohoops team / [email protected]

Lorenzo Brown received his Spanish nationality on Tuesday in order to make his senior national team debut at EuroBasket 2022 in September, although the move prompted a backlash from the Spanish Players Union (ABP).

The ABP made an announcement expressing their unease after granting a passport to a player “without any roots in Spain” and explained that it has a “negative impact” on Spanish players.

ABP’s statement reads as follows:

“With the express Spanish nationality of a player without roots in Spain, the message sent to national players is very harmful and has a negative impact on the present and the future. Is it credible that the current world champion team does not can’t find Spanish players to compete against in international competitions at the highest level?

The illusion of any player in the training categories of clubs and the Spanish Basketball Federation is to one day be able to play with the senior national team. This legitimate hope is frustrating as the Federation and the National Sports Council favor the granting of legal but ethically reprehensible passports.

The ABP has consistently denounced for many years the standardization of marriages of convenience and passports from other countries using the same system now used by the Federation and the National Sports Council.

This type of action raises player expectations, alienates fans and eliminates the sporting merit that allows one to dream of playing for the national team.

It’s devastating to see how each season the number of national players in the professional squads of our competitions is decreasing, even in the training categories.

Spanish players have talent and have shown it for many years, but to develop and exploit it they need opportunities at their clubs and of course in the Spanish FA. We resist condemning the future of many players who aspire to play for the national team in this way.