Bender za New York Times o odnosu sa CKS-om,upss oprostite HKS-om.Slobodno pribacite na Benderovu temu.
Bender is not expected to be part of the Croatian national team at the Rio Olympics and, despite his generally low-key demeanor, he became more animated when discussing his relationship with the national federation. Last summer, Bender — who has an endorsement deal with Adidas — was supposed to play for Croatia in the FIBA Under-19 World Championship, only to leave the team early after a dispute over the brand of shoe he was wearing.
Q. What is the story behind you not playing in the Under-19 tournament?
A. It was with the national team. I couldn’t play for the national team because I have contract with Adidas and they have a contract with Jordan brand. Before the tourney, we spoke and they said everything is cool and you can play with Adidas shoes, and then in first morning of the tournament in Crete, the national team suddenly said, “No, you cannot play with Adidas shoes, you need to play with Jordan shoes.”
Q. So you went home?
A: The year before I had a contract with Adidas and I played with Jordan shoes and I said, ‘O.K., this is the first year Croatia’s contract with Jordans and I am not going to be the guy who is going to ruin that,’ and after that I had problems with Adidas. But I dealt with it.
Then I came to pre-camp before last summer’s championships and I said to the national team, “We are going to have problems?” And they said, “No, it was O.K., you will play with Adidas shoes.” Then I got to championship and they said I cannot play with Adidas shoes, and they put it out in the newspapers about how my family and I are always going to run after money and all this stuff, so I felt like I had to leave. I had no choice.
Q. Do you feel like you need an apology from the federation?
A. Well it hurt me, not just because they didn’t let me play, but they also started talking a lot of things in the newspapers without any reason to mention my family or myself. Those are not nice things to hear from your own federation. Since then I have not talked to anyone on the national team, so I don’t really need an apology from them, but since then no one has even called me or tried to get in contact with me. I guess it doesn’t matter. We will see what happens this summer.
Bender added that he still hopes to someday play for Croatia’s senior national team — where there are no restrictions on what shoes players can wear — but considers it a goal for a bit further down the road. For the moment, he is concentrating on continuing to develop, both on the court and off.
[uredio 44sturn - 16. lipnja 2016. u 22:43]
Zovu Lakersi,ali zove i Zadar.