Serbia NT star Nemanja Bjelica could be facing the possibility of missing time and even being unavailable for the EuroBasket 2022 after suffering a calf injury, Mozzart Sport reports.
Coming fresh off an NBA championship, Bjelica was expected to be the veteran leader for Serbia NT with Milos Teodocic and Bogdan Bogdnanovic out. Due to swelling, it’s not completely clear how serious Bjelica’s injury is.
Although he had a limited role in offense, Bjelica was vital for the Golden State Warriors on the playoffs, playing in 71 regular-season games and averaging 6.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per contest.
During the FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers this summer, Bjelica appeared in both games against Latvia and Belgium and registered 6.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists along with an EFF of 5.0.
Among the players who can the wing and center position in Serbia is Nikola Kalinić, Vladimir Lucic, Marko Jagodic Kuridza, Boriša Simanic, and Dejan Davidovac. It remains to be seen if the veteran forward will miss the EuroBasket.
The Serbians will take on Greece (August 25) and Turkey (August 28) in the first two games of the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qualifiers. Then they will travel to Prague for the first round of of the EuroBasket.
They will face the Netherlands, Finland, Poland, Israel and the Czech Republic in Group D.