NBA player Mykhailiuk reveals why he stepped away from Ukraine's national team
Photo: Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (x.com/utahjazz)
None of the Ukrainian basketball players currently competing overseas will take part in the national team's pre-qualification for the 2027 World Cup. This includes NBA player Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk from the Utah Jazz.
What Mykhailiuk said
The star basketball player, who is preparing for his eighth season in the world's top league, explained his decision this way:
"At the moment, I have a foot injury. I'm undergoing treatment. Due to my health condition, I can't help the national team, no matter how much I want to. So I'm unable to help the team in these games," Mykhailiuk said in a comment to the Base of Ukrainian sports.
Who else won't play for the national team
The previous Ukrainian national team roster for the pre-qualification games included five players based in North America.
Besides Mykhailiuk, this includes Maksym Shulga (Boston Celtics, NBA), Oleksiy Len (last NBA team was the Los Angeles Lakers; currently without a contract), Dmytro Skapintsev (Rip City Remix, G-League), and Vladyslav Semerych (Indian Hills, NCAA college league).
None of them accepted the invitation to play for Ukraine.
Ainars Bagatskis (photo: FBU)
Ainars Bagatskis' comment
The head coach of the Ukrainian national team, Latvian specialist Ainars Bagatskis, responded emotionally to the refusal of the legionnaires.
"Big basketball names like Dončić, Porziņģis, and Jokić go to their national teams and are proud to defend their country's colors. We don't have that, and we're lacking it. I want to quote the coach of the Latvian national team, who said an interesting phrase a few days ago. Playing for the national team should be like going to church. You take off your hat when you enter and are grateful for everything you have," quotes Bagatskis, according to the Basketball Federation of Ukraine.
The coach also thanked the players who are currently on the "blue-and-yellow" squad, emphasizing that they fight for their country on the basketball court despite everything.
Who remains in the lineup?
In addition to the overseas players, point guard Vitalii Zotov from Lithuanian club Jonava will also miss the upcoming games due to injury. Thus, the coaching staff is relying on the following players.
Ukraine national team roster:
Guards:
- Oleksandr Kovliar (Buducnost, Montenegro)
- Issuf Sanon (VEF, Latvia)
- Illia Tyrtyshnyk (Ravenna, Italy)
- Mykhailo Bublyk (Kyiv-Basket)
Forwards:
- Bohdan Blizniuk (Jonava, Lithuania)
- Volodymyr Konev (Dnipro)
- Ivan Tkachenko (Mitteldeutscher, Germany)
- Artem Kovalov (Tangerang Hawks, Indonesia)
- Oleksandr Lypovyi (Kolossos, Greece)
- Andrii Voinalovych (Sabah, Azerbaijan)
- Viacheslav Bobrov (VEF, Latvia)
Centers:
- Maksym Klychko (Monaco, France)
- Danyil Sypalo (Dnipro)
- Rostyslav Novytskyi (Valmiera, Latvia)
- Viacheslav Kravtsov (Borneo Hornbills, Indonesia)
- Artem Pustovyi (Satria Muda, Indonesia)
Friendly match Ukraine vs Netherlands (photo: FBU)
Friendly matches and official start
As part of preparations for the official matches, the Ukrainian national team played three friendlies.
In Riga, Latvia, the blue-and-yellows defeated the Netherlands twice (90:86 and 85:81), and then lost to Croatia in Zagreb (71:82).
In the World Cup pre-qualification, Bagatskis' squad will start on August 6 with a game against Switzerland.
Ukraine's match schedule in the 2027 World Cup pre-qualification:
- August 6, 20:00 – Switzerland vs Ukraine
- August 9, 17:00 – Ukraine vs Slovakia
- August 16, 17:00 – Ukraine vs Switzerland
- August 20, 19:00 – Slovakia vs Ukraine
Nominally, home matches for the Ukrainian national team will be played in Riga.
The top two teams will advance to the main stage of the European World Cup qualification. The 2027 World Cup final will take place from August 27 to September 12 in Qatar.
