Turkish-American basketball player Shane Larkin has been confirmed to join the Turkish national team for the upcoming playoffs as well as Olympics qualifying season.
Larkin currently plays as a point guard for the Turkish club Anadolu Efes and was in negotiations for some time by the national sports authorities to be inducted in the squad.
The 27-year-old Larkin expressed his excitement on Twitter confirming the news of his transfer saying that he was proud and excited about the opportunity to represent Turkey on the international stage.
Turkey’s head coach Ufuk Sarica confirmed that the dual national player was approached by the authorities to join the national team.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also had earlier expressed his wish to include Larkin in the national squad extending him an informal invite in a TV interview.
Born in Ohio, the USA to Baseball legend Barry Larkin, Shane Larkin began his NBA career with Atlanta Hawks before transferring to Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics during his NBA career.
Larkin was then signed up by Turkish club Anadolu Efes in 2018 and played a key role in leading his side to the 2018 EuroLeague final and Turkish League title in the same season.
He also holds the MVP – Most Valuable Player record for four consecutive rounds and broke the most points record in Euroleague with his 49 scores against Bayern Munich in 2019.
Larkin will be playing in Turkey’s national team in 2020 FIBA Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments scheduled from June 23-28 in Canada where China, Greece, Uruguay, Czech Republic, and Canada will be competing for a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
