Shane Larkin’s status as a local player
Shane Larkin, who has been considered by many as the best player of the Euroleague, received Turkish citizenship 7 months ago. Larkin’s sharing photos with Turkey jersey, Ergin Ataman’s statements and Turkey Basketball Federation president Hedo Turkoglu’s efforts have been effective in this process.
However, Larkin has not played with the national team since he was Turkish. As can be seen clearly in the Turkish Basketball Federation’s regulations, athletes must play the game with national jersey if they want to take the status of the indigenous. For this reason, Shane Larkin will not be able to play as a local player until the national game on 12 November.
However, Ergin Ataman was very angry about Shane Larkin’s situation who will play as a foreigner player for 1 month. Ergin Ataman called this situation “unfair”. Despite the fact that the regulations have been clear and Shane Larkin has already injured, Ergin Ataman’s reaction was astonishing. People thought Ergin Ataman’s argument with Hidayet Türkoğlu to be caused of this reaction. Authorities said that this reaction was very interesting because Efes will be the highest player budget team in Turkish League this season. Also, Larkin will play as a foreigner player for only 1 month.
This season, Anadolu Efes’s player budget will be 2 million more than its closest rival Fenerbahçe. The player budget of Efes will be almost 3 times higher than that of another close rival, Karşıyaka. Moreover, in the format in which the champion is determined in the playoffs, Larkin will play as a foreigner in only 7-8 matches in the regular season. Considering these conditions, Ergin Ataman’s reaction was found interesting by basketball fans. It has already been a matter of curiosity whether Ergin Ataman will send Larkin to the national matches during the season, who said he wanted so much Larkin to serve the Turkish national team.
Image: Euroleague
Onat Orhan Selvi
