The second phase of the European qualifiers for the 2027 FIBA World Cup tips off on August 27 with several high-profile stars unavailable for their national teams.<\/p>\n
Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/strong> will miss Greece’s games, while Luka Doncic<\/strong> will not suit up for Slovenia after choosing to spend the summer with his family. Turkey will be without Alperen Sengun<\/strong> and Tarik Biberovic<\/strong>, Germany will miss Franz<\/strong> and Moritz Wagner<\/strong>, while Domantas Sabonis<\/strong> (Lithuania), Deni Avdija<\/strong> (Israel), Kristaps Porzingis<\/strong> (Latvia) and Bogdan Bogdanovic<\/strong> (Serbia) are also unavailable.<\/p>\n The Greek Basketball Federation clarified that Antetokounmpo’s absence is unrelated to insurance or financial issues, explaining that it is solely due to the timing of the new chapter in his NBA career.<\/p>\n Serbia will also be without Vasilije Micic<\/strong> and Filip Petrusev<\/strong>, who were not released by their clubs, while Dzanan Musa<\/strong> will miss Bosnia and Herzegovina’s games.<\/p>\n Despite the long list of absences, several NBA stars will represent their countries.<\/p>\n Nikola Jokic<\/strong> will lead Serbia, Victor Wembanyama<\/strong> is expected to play for France, and Dennis Schroder<\/strong> will once again suit up for Germany.<\/p>\n Georgia will rely on the trio of Tornike Shengelia<\/strong>, Sandro Mamukelashvili<\/strong> and Goga Bitadze<\/strong>, while Simone Fontecchio<\/strong> will strengthen Italy.<\/p>\n Neemias Queta<\/strong> will boost Portugal, Santi Aldama<\/strong> and the Hernangomez brothers<\/strong> will represent Spain, and Svi Mykhailiuk<\/strong> will play for Ukraine.<\/p>\n Croatia will feature Mario Hezonja<\/strong>, Ivica Zubac<\/strong> and Dario Saric<\/strong>, while Lauri Markkanen’s<\/strong> availability remains uncertain, as Finland has yet to announce its final roster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Major absences for the August qualifying window<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":504569,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[102],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-509971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"\nJokic, Wembanyama and Schroder headline the available stars<\/h2>\n