Serbia's Jokic, Micic and Kalinic to miss basketball world cup

BELGRADE - The head coach of the Serbia men's national basketball team Svetislav Pesic revealed on Monday Nikola Jokic, Vasilije Micic and Nikola Kalinic will definitely miss the upcoming FIBA World Cup.

"Several conversations were held with Jokic. Both physically and mentally, he is drained and he is simply not ready to take responsibility the way he is expected to," Pesic said at a press conference at which the Serbia squad list for the competition was announced.

"As far as Micic is concerned, we had a long conversation with him, he asked to skip this year's competition, he had a tough season with a lot of injuries," Pesic said.

"He has signed a new contract and he has renewed his shoulder injury, he is receiving therapy. His condition is not good and we cannot count on him. Kalinic had a hectic season at Barcelona and he immediately said he was unable to make himself available," Pesic said.

Vladimir Lucic and Luka Mitrovic will also miss the competition due to injuries.

The squad list is: Aleksa Avramovic, Dusan Beslac, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Dejan Davidovac, Marko Guduric, Ognjen Jaramaz, Nikola Jovic, Stefan Jovic, Vanja Marinkovic, Nikola Milutinov, Nemanja Nedovic, Filip Petrusev, Aleksej Pokusevski, Aleksa Radanov, Dusan Ristic, Alen Smailagic, Borisa Simanic, Nikola Topic and Uros Trifunovic.

"Of course I am a little disappointed when important players cannot play. Our goals will not change. They remain the same - we want to qualify for the Olympic Games at all costs," Pesic said.

New Serbia captain Bogdan Bogdanovic, who has returned to the national team, said he was extremely honoured to represent his country, especially in the role of team captain.

"It is an honour to be Serbia captain, I know what players were that before me and I hope to be a good captain," Bogdanovic said.

The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup will be held from August 25 to September 10 in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines.